A-levels results show chemistry on the rise

Young people’s interest in our subject has continued to grow, with a greater than 9% increase in uptake of chemistry across the UK, compared to last year. This is particularly encouraging given that applications across all subjects overall have decreased by 1.2% in the same timeframe.

 

Looking at chemistry A-level entries by country, this strong trend is seen at nation-level for both England and Wales. In Northern Ireland, the absolute number of students taking chemistry A-level is roughly the same, but set against an overall decline in entries this shows a slight increase in popularity.

 

	2019 chemistry entries	2018 chemistry entries	Change in chemistry entries 2018-2019	Change in overall (all subject) entries 2018-2019
UK	59,090	54,134	+ 9.2%	- 1.2%
England	54,866	50,142	+ 9.4%	- 1.2%
Wales	2,330	2,117	+ 10.1%	- 3.0%
Northern Ireland	1,648	1,659	- 0.7%	- 2.3%

 

Taking a wider view across STEM subjects as a whole, the trends are also fairly encouraging. Headlines are being grabbed by the fact that cumulatively across chemistry, physics and biology the number of female students taking exams overtook males for the first time ever. For chemistry, this equated to 31,757 female entries and 27,333 male entries. All three subjects saw an increase in numbers overall, but entries for mathematics decreased.

 

"It’s great to see that chemistry remains a popular option for young people," said Danièle Gibney, interim education policy manager at the Royal Society of Chemistry. "A-level chemistry can be the precursor to a wide range of options. Of course there are degrees in chemistry, but we know students progress to a whole range of other subjects, as well as apprenticeships, technical qualifications or straight into employment. Many congratulations to students on their results today, and I hope it proves the start of an exciting and fulfilling journey."

 

If you need support and ideas on what to do next to get into chemistry, including further information about apprenticeships, you can head to our helpful careers pages: "A future in chemistry".

 

If things haven't gone to plan and you're not sure what to do, students in England and Northern Ireland can have a look at the UCAS 'who to contact' page for support with your next steps.

 

For students in Wales, Careers Wales also have this page offering guidance and advice.

 

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