Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of young people taking engineering qualifications (a) before and (b) after the 2018 Year of Engineering.

At GCSE, the majority of students study mathematics and science, and entries to computer science continue to rise quicker than for any other subject. In 2018, 32,879 pupils aged 16-18 entered A level physics and 82,070 entered A levels in mathematics (including all mathematics subjects). Computer science A level saw the biggest increase in entries for any A level subject in 2018, up 26% (to 9,506) since the previous year. 780 pupils aged 16-18 entered an applied general qualification in engineering, 1,238 entered a Tech level in engineering, 2,319 entered a Tech certificate in engineering, and 7,929 entered a level 2 vocational qualification in engineering.

It is too early to assess the impact that the Year of Engineering has had on the take-up of engineering qualifications. However, it is positive that the Government’s broader science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes are having a positive impact on STEM progression, and the Department hopes that the efforts of the year will continue to add to this positive trend.