However, the increasing decline in students taking Physics remains a concern and Cogent is working with industry as well as its stakeholders in education to improve the attractiveness of science subjects overall.

Britain is short of maths and science teachers because many pupils opted out of studying these subjects in the 1980s and 1990s.  A research report into young people’s attitudes towards science commissioned by Cogent earlier this year revealed that for young people, science has often been a social turn-off and that careers advice is often poor or non-existent.

The report, Reputation, Perceptions and the Vanishing Workforce, was commissioned by Cogent to look at how perceptions of the oil and gas and nuclear sectors were impacting the pursuit of science education and careers. 

Most of the focus group participants stated that they had felt positively towards science subjects early in their school careers. However, by the time of GCSEs this appeal had been eroded - either through the content or the manner in which science is taught. 

Cogent Chief Executive Joanna Woolf said: “We are working with employers in our industry sectors and those who shape our education system on strategies designed to increase the uptake of sciences at A level. The future success of the critical industries in our sector footprint relies on a continued stream of high-calibre science students.”

Cogent has welcomed the development of the new Science curriculum for GCSEs which will be implemented 2006-2008 in secondary schools. The pilot of this programme in 2004/5 proved very successful in improving the interest of both pupils and teachers in science and the interest in sciences at A level, especially for girls. The EnergyForesight project which developed teaching materials and provided teacher training for the programme was funded by the North West Development Agency (NWDA), Cumbria LSC and industry partners. It is now vital that the funding can be found to extend EnergyForesight through the full implementation of the new curriculum.

Cogent was disappointed earlier this year that Sir Mike Tomlinson’s proposal, set out in his report, of an overarching diploma which would merge vocational and academic routes, was rejected.

Joanna Woolf said: “This proposal would have injected a real, and in our view highly beneficial, innovation to the all important 12-19 learning phase. However, we are working both with our partners in training and education and with employers to make the new vocational diplomas a success and to support young people in their career choices. “

She added: “Vocational education is not second-class. And education must give young people core skills which are needed in the workplace and which equip them for the modern, technologically driven world in which employers operate.”