Lindsey Taylor, OCR Policy Researcher

The Curriculum and Assessment Review, commissioned by the Department for Education, is now in its final stages before setting out recommendations in the autumn. The interim report of the review published in March told us that a subject-by-subject approach would be taken with each subject diagnosed for specific issues particularly around relevance, volume and diversity of subject content. 

The Review panel could gain much insight from the provisional entries for this summer’s A Levels which offer valuable information about the popularity of individual subjects. I’ll take a look here at some of the trends arising from the entries and ask why young people might be making different choices this year.

Popular subjects

Maths continues to grow in popularity. After breaking through the 100,000 mark last year, Maths remains the most popular A Level again this year. Further Maths has the biggest A Level percentage increase of all. And despite the significant decrease of AS Level entries since the decoupling with the A Level, Further Maths has seen an increase this year. 

Other subjects increasing in popularity include Physics, Business Studies, and Economics. Could young people be thinking more about progression? These subjects offer some classic combinations for particular undergraduate courses at university, as well as good access opportunities to employment. Is the job market on young minds more than it might have been in the past?

Subjects decreasing in popularity

Overall entries for A Levels have decreased this summer despite a rise in the 18-year-old population. More than half of A Level subjects have decreased in entry size this summer compared with last summer, including Psychology, Biology, History, English Literature, Geography and Computing.

A longer-term view of subject trends

But before we get too concerned about the popularity or otherwise of individual subjects from one year to the next, we should take a longer view. Most subjects experience slight fluctuation in entry numbers and of course, the past five years have seen particular, sometimes unusual impacts on uptake, due to the pandemic and post-pandemic circumstances. 

Taking this longer view, we can see that this year’s slight decline in Computing comes after several years of rapid growth in popularity. For subjects like History and Geography, this is a second year of slight decline, which perhaps is too soon to be called a trend. On the other hand, entries for English A Levels have dropped by around a third since 2017. Teachers tell us that the dwindling popularity of the A Level is partly down to an uninspiring GCSE experience. This is clearly reflected in the entries data pointing to the need for an urgent redesign of the English GCSE – something we have highlighted to the Review panel, and Chief Executive Jill Duffy has raised in Parliament, as the panel takes its subject-by-subject approach on the way to its recommendations.

What might be causing declining popularity?

The Curriculum and Assessment Review provides a great opportunity to ask what might be putting students off certain subjects at A Level, or indeed, given the decreased overall entry size, putting them off A Levels. Is it about the subject experience at Key Stage 4 or even earlier in the school journey? Do gender differences in uptake need to be addressed for certain subjects? Is there a shift to vocational options with more students open to doing a mixture of A Levels and vocational subjects, perhaps choosing a different method of assessment to the A Level? Without an AS option, are young people unwilling to give new subjects a go? Are fewer exams desirable to help with anxiety or mental health? Are school and college budgets impacting on the range of subjects that can be offered? Are specialist teacher recruitment and retention issues affecting choice? Do school performance measures have an impact? Are some universities widening the pool of acceptable subjects for subject-specific undergraduate programmes? 

While the answer to all of these questions is probably yes, they will not all apply to every subject, or to the same extent. These questions provide context for any reform of the curriculum and assessment, and the Review panel will need to consider the extent to which each of these might be addressed in the short, medium or long term in order to strengthen an education system that is faced with numerous and significant challenges.

A pivotal moment

We will be able to speculate less and know more about some of the reasons behind A Level uptake once we have A Level and vocational results data on 14 August. What we do know is that this is a key time for everyone in the education sector to be considering how the curriculum and assessment might be improved, and to make the most of the opportunity that the Curriculum and Assessment Review gives us. Importantly, real evidence like these entry trends can help inform recommendations.

Related links

Summary of this summer’s entries 

Summary of Curriculum and Assessment Review interim report 

Striking the balance: A review of 11–16 curriculum and assessment in England

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About the author

Lindsey has been with OCR since its inception in 1998 having worked for RSA in the early 1990s. Lindsey’s role covers policy research, policy comms and stakeholder engagement with a current focus on the Government’s education policies.