Written question asked by Mark Simmonds (Conservative) on Tuesday, 29 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 December 2005. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 December 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Science

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage more students to study science at advanced level.

Answer: The Government 10-year Science and Innovation Investment Framework outlines our plans to increase the number of young people choosing to study science, engineering and technology at A-level. We are taking this forward by improving teaching and learning through all school phases by:introducing a new programme of study for science at key stage 4, leading to new GCSEs. The new programme maintains the breadth, depth and challenge of the current curriculum, while catering for a wide range of students' interests and aptitudes which will ensure that the science taught in schools inspires learners to pursue further study;reviewing science at key stage 3, especially in relation to the new science programme at key stage 4;providing innovative and exciting continuing professional development for teachers and technicians through the national network of Science Learning Centres;improving teacher recruitment in science by increasing the value of the teacher training bursaries for science graduates and ‘golden hellos' for new science teachers.

Secondary information