11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education1 Physics in UK Education Judith McGovern University of Manchester

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education census Population (millions) 18 yr olds (thousands) England Scotland Wales N.Ireland1.7226

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education3 Physics Education The UK consists of 4 countries Each has a slightly different education system In Scotland University entrance is traditionally at 17 In Northern Ireland, England and Wales it is at 18, after “A-levels”, the differences in education are currently minor in the three countries

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education4 Public Exams (not Scotland) 16: GCSE 17: A/S levels 18: A-levels University

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education5 National Curriculum (not Scotland) Only English, Mathematics and Science are compulsory to age 16 (plus Welsh/Irish as appropriate) Most students sit 8-10 GCSE exams at 16, including Double Science (about 20% of teaching time) Till this year, content of Double Science was quite constrained and so most students studied Physics to 16 New curriculum allows more flexibility: consequences for Physics not yet clear, but may lead to more students dropping it 5 separate exam boards (inefficient for follow-up)

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education6 A-levels (not Scotland) Students typically sit 4 A/S levels one year after GCSE, and 3 A-levels one year later About 40% of 18-year-olds obtain at least one A-level, and nearly 30% obtain three (up from 30% and 20% a decade ago) English (33%) is the most popular subject, then Biology, Mathematics (20%), and Psychology Physics (10%) is not in the top 10 Physics and Maths have declined over the last 15 years, while 18 year old population and post-16 participation rates have increased

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education7 A-level entries

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education8 Public Exams - Scotland 16: Standard Grade 17: Highers 18: Advanced Highers University

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education Scotland Scottish framework less prescriptive (Standard grade): Individual Sciences still the norm, most students don’t do Physics 77% stay at school to age (Highers): Physics (20%) is in 5 th place, after English (60%), Mathematics (40%), Chemistry and Biology Over last 6 year decline in Physics is similar to that in England. Scottish Universities take students after Highers, but about 15% of students who take Higher Physics stay for one more year and take the Advanced Higher which allows them access to all English universities.

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education10 Reasons for decline in Physics As post-16 participation rates have risen, schools have offered many more non-traditional subjects at A-level –BUT biology hasn’t suffered same decline Physics is perceived as (IS?) difficult, so only students likely to do well still take it; grades are then high –BUT mathematics is not declining as fast (currently rising) In England, most teachers have to teach all sciences. Far fewer Physics graduates enter teaching than other sciences or maths. Up to GCSE, many students will be taught Physics by a biologist –In Scotland plenty of specialist Physics teachers

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education11 PGCE Applicants

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education12 Degrees in the UK BSc – 3yrs MSc – 1yr PhD – 3-4 Yrs MPhys/MSci – 4yrs In Scotland the BSc and MPhys usually take 1yr longer. In England some courses have foundation years. PGCE – 1yr

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education13 UK Physics Degrees 46 of 116 UK Universities offer first degrees in Physics; 8 are in Scotland, 3 in Wales and 1 in N. Ireland 28 closures or mergers of Physics departments since 1995; Chemistry also affected However student numbers on Physics courses have been roughly constant over last two decades Scottish students are around 10% of total and so are not over-represented 3035 (1%) students enrolled on Physics and Astronomy degrees in 2006; roughly 80% will graduate. 13% from overseas. Female fraction (24%) roughly constant over last decade.

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education14 Trends in Enrolment (1)

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education15 Enrolment Trends (2)

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education16 Degree destinations for students with Physics and Maths A-level

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education17 Integrated Masters Most departments offer both BSc and an “Integrated Masters” (MPhys/MSci) Physics degrees MPhys/MSci introduced 15 years ago in response to perceived decline in A-level standards, esp in Maths About 35% do MPhys/MSci, but varies widely across departments; fewer in Scotland and in small departments Most departments have a higher progression threshold for Masters Supposed to be the degree for “professional physicists” Final year usually involves research project, but not as long as an MSc (or Diplom).

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education18 PhD studies Around 650 PhDs in Physics are awarded in the UK each year – 4.4% of total About 10% of these are in Particle Physics MPhys is the preferred qualification for entry to PhD, but not required. At Manchester 8% of BSc students and 37% of MPhys students continue straight to PhDs STFC now awards 4-year studentships. Pre-2006, they were 3-year, but students typically took nearly 4 years to complete Most PhD programmes involve little taught course work Experimental PP students usually spend at least one year at CERN/SLAC/Fermilab

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education19 Expt Particle Physics PhD students and PDRAS

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education20 Government Initiatives The UK government is aware of the problems facing Physics and Chemistry Golden Hellos for new science teachers (since 1998) and enhanced bursaries for PGCE students (2006) Further schemes to help science teachers and trainees specialise in Physics and Chemistry (2007) Grant to IoP for “Stimulating Demand in Physics” (2006) New extra payment of £1000 per student to departments of Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Material Science to combat department closures ( )

11/05/07Judith McGovern Physics in UK Education21 Issues for Physics Degrees The English degree scheme is not obviously Bologna- compliant according to current rules. –Masters qualification not needed to start PhD –MSc (1 year) or 4 th yr of MPhys (9 months) not long enough to accumulate 90 ECTS credits – max 75/yr –Separate BSc not usually awarded to MPhys students –No “Diploma Supplement” (transcript) at present UK favours “outcome-based” rather than “time-served” approach; credit counting takes no account of starting level or intensity of study Next meeting of ministers in London next week….