• Swindon & Wiltshire Education, training and skills
• Friday August 23 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Not enough girls are leaving school with computing qualifications, BCS warns

Not enough girls are leaving school with computing qualifications, Swindon-based BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT has warned.

Thursday’s GCSE results laid bare a 10-year trend, with Computer Science having the largest gender gap of any GCSE subject.

While entries in England by female students in England have risen by 11 per cent from 2023 and those for male students rose by five, the ratio of male-to-female students is still worryingly high at 3.5-to-1 – even though girls continue to attain higher grades than boys.

This year’s cohort in England has seen GCSE Computer Science grades rise by 3.9 percentage points for higher grades from 2023, while the outcomes for Level 2 vocational and technical qualifications show that gaining qualifications in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) remains an attractive proposition, with 22,700 awards made in 2024 for Technical Awards (level 1/2) in 2024, up from 22,300 in 2023.

Technical Certificate numbers in ICT also rose, to 600 in 2024, up from 500 in the previous year.

Julia Adamson, managing director for education & public benefit at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, said: “It’s exciting to think that many pupils getting their results today will continue to develop their knowledge in this subject and go on to have fantastic careers in this area.

“However, It’s simply unacceptable for so many students to be leaving formal education without the digital skills for life and work.

“The overall figures for those taking GCSE Computer Science remain low and far too many students are taking their next step post-16 without the vital digital skills they need to succeed in a world which continues to depend on technology at a rapidly increasing pace.

“In particular, more needs to be done to make this exciting, creative, and enabling subject relevant to female students. Data analysed by BCS shows that countries offering a more diverse range of digital qualifications appear to attract more female candidates, and the need to develop a wider suite of credible and meaningful digital qualifications may be one of the answers.

“While there have been small increases towards closing the gender gap, the figures are still unacceptably low and there is a long way to go so that every young person leaves school equipped to thrive in a world dominated by digital technology.”

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay