25th February 2015 1:00
By Blue Tutors
A new study has revealed that many students are not given the opportunity to study subjects at school that are vital to their job prospects. The study, carried out by the Open Public Services Network found that many schools did not offer triple science or a range of languages, meaning that students’ choices were far more limited than their peers in more affluent areas. The results show that children going to school in Kensington, London, were four times more likely to be enrolled for a language GCSE than those attending schools in Middlesbrough. The availability of core GCSE subjects such as science and languages have a profound effect on the choices available to students at A’ level and beyond, with the number of choices available to students varying significantly throughout the country.
The Sutton Trust education charity called the findings ‘very worrying’, and noted yet another link between educational opportunities and geography. The charity noted that students who were not given the opportunity to study triple science were severely disadvantaged. Most student who go on to study science A levels took triple science GCSE, putting students to whom this option isn’t available at a disadvantage. Overall the study showed that the curriculum taught in poorer areas of the country is significantly different to that taught in wealthier areas.
The Sutton Trust has raised concerns that pressure on schools to perform in league tables is responsible for the fact that some schools are not offering key core subjects. In poorer areas with lower results, schools maintain their league table position by limiting access to the most difficult subjects, the results of which could damage schools’ performance in league tables. Additionally, demand for science teachers is greater than supply, and schools in poorer areas are struggling to recruit the specialist teachers they require. The study concluded that access to the full science curriculum in addition to languages was a vital requirement for opening up academic and career opportunities to students.