Executive summary
- provision of GCSE computer science has increased year on year since 2012, with 87,520 taking the subject in 2023.
- 66 % of providers now offer the GCSE, with 80 % of state non-selective schools offering the exam; 82 % of all key stage 4 students were in a school that offered the subject.
- the overall reach of GCSE computer science is greater than that previously achieved by GCSE ICT, but within schools classes are generally smaller with a higher percentage of males sitting the course.
- whilst the number of students taking the subject has increased, the percentage of students in state non-selective schools was 12.9 % in 2023, marginally up from 12.8%, six years earlier, in 2017, i.e. there has been very little increase in non-selective state school provision over this period.
- timetabled computing has decreased across all key stages since the introduction of the new curriculum, the most striking loss in provision is at key stage 4, where the allocated hours have dropped year on year. In 2011/12 5.4 % of all timetabled lessons were computing, in 2022/23 this had decreased to 2.2 %, an overall loss of 59 % of allocated teaching time.
- A level provision has substantially increased since 2012, 57 % of providers in 2023 offering the subject and 62 % of students attending providers where the subject was run.
- where lessons are run in schools, they are now more likely to be categorised as computer science rather than ICT. 60% of key stage 3 lessons in 2022/23 were categorised as computer science.
- 15.8 % of students in London took the GCSE in 2023, compared to just 9.6 % of students in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East.
- there remain local education authorities with no A level provision.
- provision of the GCSE and A level in rural providers remains below that in urban providers, with subject cohorts also being smaller.
- schools serving students from poorer background were less likely to be offering the GCSE and A level computer science qualifications, with poorer students also less likely to be taking the subject than their richer peers, even when they were in schools that offered it.
- within schools that offer the GCSE, free school meal male and female students are less likely to take computer science than their wealthier peers.
- iMedia appears to have gone some way to replacing GCSE ICT provision, but numbers remain below the peak of the GCSE and female representation is lower.
- in 2013, 90 % of schools provided some form of computing related KS4 qualifications, this figure had dropped to 77 % in 2023.
- GCSE computer science exams in 2019 were amongst the most difficult exams for students to achieve well in when compared to their results in other subjects; with female students getting -1.11 of a grade less, compared to males where it was -0.63 of a grade.
- the gender of the head teachers appears to have little influence over whether the school offers computer science GCSE in state non-selective secondary schools.
- GCSE students with SEN provision are less likely to take the GCSE in computer science. At A level this group is more likely to take the qualification, however, the majority of SEN students do not progress to A level qualifications, making the overall population of this group small.
- Chinese female and male students are the best represented ethnic group in GCSE and A level computer science
- White girls and Black boys are the least well represented ethnic groups at GCSE.