Underfunding is having a negative impact on science teaching and learning
A key finding from The Science Teaching Survey 2023
Underfunding in schools continues to be a pressing issue for many of those working within education. Science teachers are affected by this because inadequate funding can limit learning experiences such as practical activities. In the 2023 survey:
- 57% of teachers across the UK and the Republic of Ireland in mainstream state secondary schools highlighted inadequate funding as a challenge
- 34% said that the lack of classroom equipment was an issue in teaching science
- two-thirds (67%) of respondents asked for more funding to tackle the challenges they face.
| Mainstream state secondary schools | FSM% (UK only) | FSM% (England only*) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All nations | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland | 30% or above | Less than 30% | 30% or above | Less than 30% | |
| Insufficient funding | 57% | 58% | 54% | 70% | 55% | 38% | 55% | 58% | 54% | 59% |
| High staff turnover | 27% | 28% | 24% | 25% | 12% | 13% | 42% | 25% | 42% | 26% |
| Insufficient staff non-contact time (encroachment and reallocation) | 41% | 42% | 38% | 41% | 39% | 22% | 39% | 42% | 37% | 43% |
| Lack of support to students from parent/family/guardian | 41% | 41% | 42% | 47% | 43% | 36% | 63% | 37% | 61% | 37% |
| Poor pupil attendance | 38% | 36% | 51% | 51% | 33% | 33% | 63% | 34% | 60% | 31% |
| Understaffing of teaching staff | 36% | 37% | 32% | 33% | 14% | 20% | 43% | 35% | 45% | 36% |
| Understaffing of classroom support staff | 47% | 46% | 66% | 35% | 14% | 33% | 49% | 47% | 48% | 46% |
| High staff absence | 25% | 25% | 29% | 31% | 16% | 7% | 39% | 22% | 38% | 22% |
| Insufficient support from leadership | 26% | 24% | 40% | 25% | 27% | 24% | 29% | 25% | 26% | 23% |
| Negative working environment | 19% | 18% | 24% | 16% | 16% | 20% | 24% | 18% | 22% | 17% |
| Lack of collaboration/teamwork among staff | 15% | 14% | 21% | 13% | 14% | 18% | 17% | 14% | 16% | 13% |
| Not enough support for inexperienced teachers | 15% | 15% | 15% | 17% | 20% | 18% | 20% | 15% | 19% | 14% |
| There are no challenges | 4% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 6% | 9% | 1% | 4% | 1% | 4% |
| Other responses | 6% | 5% | 6% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 5% | 6% | 4% | 5% |
| Don't know/Not sure | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Total | 1880 | 1493 | 210 | 83 | 49 | 45 | 235 | 1294 | 203 | 1046 |
Filter: Teachers (including Heads of Department); base n = 2456
*The sample sizes for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland were too small to provide statistically meaningful findings.
| Mainstream state secondary schools | FSM% (UK only) | FSM% (England only*) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All nations | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland | 30% or above | Less than 30% | 30% or above | Less than 30% | |
| Challenging student behaviour | 66% | 65% | 75% | 80% | 37% | 40% | 75% | 65% | 74% | 65% |
| Limited literacy skills of students | 52% | 50% | 69% | 70% | 35% | 42% | 75% | 50% | 73% | 47% |
| Limited numeracy skills of students | 50% | 46% | 79% | 61% | 43% | 42% | 69% | 48% | 67% | 43% |
| Student attendance | 50% | 48% | 66% | 55% | 31% | 51% | 73% | 47% | 71% | 45% |
| Insufficient classroom support, e.g. no teaching assistants | 48% | 48% | 64% | 33% | 16% | 29% | 57% | 46% | 57% | 46% |
| Insufficient classroom equipment, incl. textbooks | 34% | 32% | 39% | 41% | 18% | 56% | 34% | 33% | 34% | 32% |
| No technician/not enough technicians | 25% | 22% | 26% | 35% | 39% | 80% | 28% | 23% | 28% | 21% |
| Insufficient lab access | 19% | 20% | 8% | 22% | 10% | 24% | 20% | 18% | 21% | 20% |
| Inadequate teaching resources (lesson plans/scheme of work) | 14% | 14% | 14% | 18% | 8% | 20% | 14% | 14% | 14% | 14% |
| Teaching outside of specialism | 15% | 16% | 6% | 12% | 14% | 7% | 17% | 14% | 18% | 15% |
| Lack of confidence in the subject area | 6% | 6% | 3% | 6% | 2% | 2% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% |
| Not enough classroom time to cover the curriculum content | 2% | 2% | 0% | 2% | 10% | 0% | 0% | 2% | 0% | 2% |
| Not enough time outside of classroom (for planning/marking and/or assessment) | 1% | 1% | 3% | 4% | 0% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% |
| Other responses | 7% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 10% | 4% | 4% | 8% | 3% | 8% |
| There are no challenges | 4% | 4% | 1% | 2% | 8% | 2% | 1% | 4% | 1% | 4% |
| Don't know/Not sure | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Total | 1880 | 1493 | 210 | 83 | 49 | 45 | 235 | 1294 | 203 | 1046 |
Filter: Teachers (including Heads of Department); base n = 2456
*The sample sizes for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland were not large enough to generate statistically reliable results.
Now, thinking generally, what one change to the education system do you think would have the biggest positive impact in science teaching in your nation?
"[With more funding] We could afford to have science labs for every lesson. And do practicals where they support learning. To get cover to go on training courses. To arrange school trips. To allow staff adequate non-contact time to keep abreast of developments. To afford laptops or iPads to use in class. To have Wi-Fi that would support them. To use modern AFL strategies to assess all student understanding and provide individual support."
Teacher, England
| Mainstream state secondary schools | FSM% (UK only) | FSM% (England only*) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All nations | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland | 30% or above | Less than 30% | 30% or above | Less than 30% | |
| Consistent policies including behaviour management, attendance and learning and teaching | 46% | 43% | 65% | 64% | 37% | 36% | 54% | 46% | 50% | 42% |
| More funding | 67% | 68% | 58% | 72% | 73% | 49% | 63% | 68% | 62% | 69% |
| More non-contact time (for planning, PD, practising practical work) | 66% | 66% | 62% | 71% | 61% | 67% | 70% | 65% | 71% | 66% |
| More classroom support staff | 48% | 47% | 69% | 33% | 18% | 49% | 52% | 48% | 51% | 46% |
| Support from leadership | 31% | 29% | 45% | 29% | 39% | 29% | 34% | 31% | 31% | 28% |
| Greater access to subject-specific professional development | 26% | 25% | 29% | 33% | 33% | 29% | 30% | 26% | 29% | 24% |
| Greater collaboration with colleagues | 20% | 19% | 26% | 25% | 18% | 27% | 23% | 20% | 22% | 19% |
| Protected non-contact time | 44% | 44% | 43% | 40% | 49% | 44% | 47% | 43% | 45% | 43% |
| Leadership led cultural shift | 30% | 29% | 39% | 31% | 27% | 22% | 34% | 30% | 33% | 28% |
| Don’t require support/no challenges | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 0% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Other | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 8% | 13% | 5% | 7% | 5% | 7% |
| Total | 1880 | 1493 | 210 | 83 | 49 | 45 | 235 | 1294 | 203 | 1046 |
Filter: Teachers (including Heads of Department); base n = 2456
*The sample sizes for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland were too small to provide statistically meaningful findings.
In the survey, we asked: "What one change to the education system do you think would have the biggest positive impact in science teaching in your nation?"
‘Funding’ was regularly cited in teachers’ responses:
"Increased funding from the government, both to schools so that equipment and resources can be afforded and pay for staff to attract and retain science teachers."
Teacher, England
"Funding – make funding for schools more so we can offer the subjects and buy the equipment and consumables. Fund teachers' salaries so it is an attractive career and uptake in numbers increases. You can't teach good science if you don't have good staff."
Teacher, Wales
"Funding to provide more teachers, reducing class sizes, therefore improving experience of the student in classroom."
Teacher, Northern Ireland
"Increased funding – both to allow the purchase of equipment required for learning and teaching (e.g. microscopes, glassware), and to allow teachers to have more non-contact time because they're not made to do cover; also for pupil support assistants so that we can better meet the needs of learners during science teaching."
Teacher, Scotland
Barriers to practical work
Practical chemistry activities give students a unique opportunity to develop their understanding of theory through hands-on learning experiences. Practical chemistry activities also develop crucial skills like communication and teamwork, which are essential in science careers.
However, insufficient time for practical activities, challenging student behaviour, lack of equipment and understaffing of science technicians were all cited as barriers to carrying out practical chemistry in lessons.
Over a third of teachers across the UK and Republic of Ireland (37%) cited the cost of consumables and chemicals as a barrier to practicals. However, this was reported more often by teachers in Scotland (60%) and Northern Ireland (53%).
| Mainstream state secondary schools | FSM% (UK only) | FSM% (England only*) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All nations | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland | 30% or above | Less than 30% | 30% or above | Less than 30% | |
| Understaffing of science technicians | 27% | 25% | 28% | 36% | 39% | 62% | 31% | 26% | 32% | 24% |
| Insufficient time for practical to be taught alongside theory | 60% | 60% | 60% | 58% | 69% | 64% | 66% | 60% | 67% | 59% |
| Lack of equipment | 35% | 33% | 44% | 36% | 24% | 44% | 33% | 35% | 33% | 33% |
| No time for training/practising | 31% | 30% | 32% | 33% | 29% | 27% | 33% | 31% | 33% | 31% |
| Health and safety concerns | 15% | 15% | 16% | 16% | 24% | 27% | 15% | 14% | 16% | 13% |
| Challenging student behaviour | 51% | 50% | 59% | 66% | 33% | 24% | 66% | 49% | 64% | 48% |
| Cost of consumables and chemicals | 37% | 34% | 60% | 42% | 53% | 27% | 35% | 38% | 30% | 35% |
| Lack of confidence in delivering practical sessions | 7% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 4% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| Insufficient lab access | 18% | 19% | 5% | 23% | 14% | 33% | 18% | 17% | 18% | 19% |
| Unsuitable labs | 20% | 21% | 10% | 29% | 12% | 20% | 21% | 20% | 22% | 22% |
| No barriers | 8% | 9% | 6% | 1% | 8% | 2% | 6% | 8% | 6% | 9% |
| Other | 7% | 6% | 9% | 5% | 12% | 9% | 6% | 7% | 5% | 7% |
| Total | 1880 | 1493 | 210 | 83 | 49 | 45 | 235 | 1294 | 203 | 1046 |
Filter: Teachers (including Heads of Department); base n = 2456
*The sample sizes for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland were not large enough to generate statistically reliable results.
Now, thinking generally, what one change to the education system do you think would have the biggest positive impact in science teaching in your nation?
"Honestly, more funding. We are really struggling to retain staff who move into the private sector for higher wages. And our budget is cut year after year and we are unable to run the practicals we would like to outside of required practicals because we cannot afford to replace chemicals or maintain equipment."
Science technician, England
"More funding for staff; both teaching and technicians. Stretched staff do not currently have the capacity to make more practical science happen. Courses struggle to be finished each year and periods per week are being cut across the whole timetable for upper school qualifications, another barrier to practical 'hands on' science education."
Science technician, Scotland
"Less content, more time to explore the subject linking to real life and practicals."
Teacher, Northern Ireland
"Funding and recognition of the role technicians play in improvements within the practical provision. Improving the training and career structure for technicians to encourage them to invest in their schools and futures."
Science technician, Scotland
What we are doing
We continue to develop new and practical ways to help teachers and technicians create engaging learning experiences for their students.
Why not try our microscale experiments, which can help make budgets go further. They require smaller amounts of chemicals without compromising educational value. By producing less waste, they’ll also help you reduce the environmental footprint of practical chemistry in lessons.
Explore our diverse and flexible professional development courses, including self-led options, which are designed to integrate with your teaching schedule. Wherever possible, we partner with organisations across the UK and Ireland to provide funding for teachers and technicians to attend in-person training.
You may be eligible for our grants and funding:
- The Chemistry Teaching Empowerment Fund supports collaborative projects to improve chemistry teaching and foster effective teaching communities
- Outreach Fund could help you develop chemistry-based enrichment activities
- The RSC’s Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector funds small educational projects
- RSC members get access to other funding opportunities and benefits.
Through our policy work, we will continue to push for every child to experience practical chemistry in their lessons.
Explore the full data set behind the Science Teaching Survey 2023
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