A-level students in England have increasingly dropped humanities and arts subjects in favour of a narrower range of science-based subjects after being nudged by the last government’s changes to A-levels made a decade ago.
The changes, backed by the former education secretary Michael Gove, split A-level courses away from AS-level exams, and a new report by the British Academy and the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) says it has resulted in declining numbers of students combining humanities such as English or music with sciences or maths.
Molly Morgan Jones, the director of policy at the British Academy, said: “Failure to address this decline will have knock-on effects, not only for these subjects in UK universities but also on the skills young people take out into the workforce and the wider world.
“Higher education and research are under strain, and the humanities and arts are bearing the brunt of many departmental closures. Breadth and balance should be at the heart of any future post-16 curriculum and should not be negatively impacted by any future reforms.”
Before 2015-16, many students took four A-level courses and sat AS-level exams after the first year, midway through their course. Gove’s changes cut out the AS-level component and replaced it with a single set of A-level exams taken after two years.
The British Academy study found that the change coincided with students taking fewer courses and being less likely to combine arts or humanities subjects with science, technology and maths (Stem) or social sciences.
Until 2015-16, more than half of all students were consistently taking at least one humanities subject. But by 2021-22 just 38% of students took at least one humanities course. In arts subjects such as music, design and media studies the decline began started earlier, dropping to 24% in 2021-22.
The report also notes that 20 years ago only a small proportion of sixth formers exclusively studied subjects within the same major categories. But after the 2015-16 changes, the proportion taking solely Stem courses has increased. In 2014-15, 7% of students took only Stem subjects. By 2021-22 that had doubled to 14%, while the proportion studying humanities alone has remained unchanged at 4%.
Michael Scott, the NFER’s senior economist and the report’s lead author, said: “Young people are studying a narrower range of subjects, which is probably due, at least in part, to reforms introduced over the last two decades.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The curriculum and assessment review will bring together leading education experts, leaders and staff to transform the outdated curriculum and assessment system.
“The renewed curriculum will ensure young people get the opportunity to access a broad and balanced curriculum, as well as crucial work and life skills, providing the foundation to succeed in both the workplace and throughout their lives.”
Sixth formers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will find out their A-level and BTec results on Thursday. Jo Saxton, the head of the Ucas university admissions service, said “every kind of course under the sun” was available for late applicants.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, told PA she had ensured that universities were aware of applicants whose studies had been disrupted by the closure of school buildings constructed from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) and at risk of collapse.
The Liberal Democrats said official figures showed that 9,700 sixth formers were at schools affected by Raac, with many taught in portable cabins or temporary sites.
Munira Wilson, the Lib Dems’ education spokesperson, said: “The previous Conservative government abandoned children and parents, leaving a legacy of crumbling classrooms. The new government must now ensure pupils and parents impacted by these years of chaos are given the support they need.”
