Royal Society response to A level and vocational results
13 August 2026Responding to the publication of today’s A level and vocational results, Professor Jane Clarke FRS, Chair of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education, said:
Congratulations to everyone receiving their results today. You should be especially proud of what you’ve achieved despite what have been exceptionally high temperatures during exams season.
Students need numeracy skills now more than ever, with increasing reliance on data and AI in the workplace and the need for quantitative and critical thinking skills both in work and in daily life.
Mathematics remains the most popular subject at AS and A level, and we have also seen a huge increase in further maths entries (up 8.5% from 2025 figures). If this indicates an increasing emphasis by universities on the value of further maths, then we should be looking at steps to make it more widely available. Of note however, just 26% of those taking further maths A level in 2026 were girls, and this gender gap has only increased in recent years.
The dramatic increase in economics and accounting A levels seems to indicate a greater awareness of the value of quantitative skills among students. This would be further supported by greater take up of Core Maths. We were disappointed to see only a slight increase in entries this year, despite the continuation of increased funding. We need to ensure that more schools are supported in offering Core Maths, so that all students leave school or college with quantitative skills for personal development, further studies and employment.
The popularity of STEM subjects has remained stable across the board, with an increase in entries in biology, chemistry and statistics A levels. While this is positive news, we mustn’t let the numbers mask the continuing gender disparities that often appear in post-16 STEM education.
There are far fewer girls taking computing at A level than boys across the UK (19% of entrants are female compared to 81% male), with similar proportions applying for computing undergraduate degrees. However, girls consistently outperform boys in the subject at A level.
Girls make up only 27% of applications for mathematical science undergraduate degrees, and 20% of engineering and technology degree applications.
This remains concerning, as Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» explored at our landmark 'women and the future of STEM' conference earlier this year, environments in some school subjects become increasingly exclusionary to girls as they progress through school. In physics, for example, 42% A level students said “scientists are usually men” compared with only 11% of Year 11 students planning to study physics at A level (Louise Archer, ASPIRES). This suggests a worrying change in attitude that intensifies as students move through education.
As we set out in our report on computing education, girls often perceive computing is ‘not for them’, which can lead to a lack of engagement and lack of confidence in the subject. Incorporating diverse female role models in STEM careers into the curriculum could help encourage an environmental shift and ensure inclusive STEM cultures throughout the education system and beyond.
We are encouraged by the increased profile of technical and vocational qualifications in results discussions, and we hope this helps reinforce public awareness of the value of these qualifications.
We must also acknowledge that once again, the rise in take-up across some STEM subjects inevitably comes at the expense of humanities, arts, social sciences and languages, due to the constraints of our exceptionally narrow post-16 education system in England. As we said last year, the Government should strongly consider the benefits of recoupling AS and A levels as a first step to addressing declines in subject breadth at post-16. We also look forward to seeing how the Prime Minister’s plans for technical education and particularly the imminent introduction of V levels will impact greater breadth and flexibility in the curriculum.