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ICT education fails at A-level

The Royal Society rates standards as poor.

By Eric Doyle, 19 Aug 2010 at 14:03

The torture ended today for A-level students who have been on tenterhooks waiting for their examination results.

As usual, a record number passed but also par for the course was the dismal number who opted for computing and information communications technology subjects.

Only 4,710 students sat the computing exam and this year it fell for the seventh year in a row to 4,065. Only nine per cent of the sitters were female. ICT did little better with 12,186 students.

This was 238 more than last year. And 38 per cent were female.

The numbers have declined rapidly since 2003 when 16,106 students took the ICT examination and 8,488 sat for computing certificates.

The total number of A-level students across all subjects was higher than last year and, as a percentage of this, the IT examination candidates maintained the same level as last year. The implication is that the ICT figures may well have bottomed-out.

Job vacancies in the ICT world are faring well but education seems to be lacking the ability to attract students. One reason for this is the general level of understanding among today’s students.

Their use of technology often outstrips that of their teachers.

Several reports have pointed to the need to better train staff.

Earlier this month, the Royal Society released a study on computing in schools. It was a scathing report and concluded that the current situation would have serious implications for the economic and scientific wellbeing of the UK.

“It is believed that design and delivery of ICT and computer science curricula in schools is so poor that students’ understanding and enjoyment of the subjects is severely limited,” it read. “The effects of this, coupled with dwindling student numbers, mean that, unless significant improvements are made, the deficit in the workforce numbers and capability could have a highly negative impact on the UK’s economy.”

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4 comments

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Mystery Solved

The pay is atrocious. Which competent IT worker would sacrifice an upwardly mobile career path and good pay for a job that barely scrapes about £15k at secondary level and £25k in most colleges? They are paying peanuts, getting monkeys and having the nerve to complain about standards!

By Majjie on Friday Aug 20

Way Behind The Times

After working for 7 years in secondary education as a Network Manager, i came to realise that ICT means only one thing to (most) schools, local authorities, and government departments.. And that is: A tick in a box. The time, money and effort used to boost the appearance of improving ICT in schools far outways any efforts used to actually improve ICT. "..We've got a PC for every 4 pupils.." "..We've just got a new VLE.." "..We have no idea what we are supposed to be doing with all this stuff.." No one is willing to put themselves out there, and really push the boundaries of what is possible. Everyone is waiting for someone else to lead so they can follow. And if your waiting for DfES (or whatever they've wasted million of £'s on changing their name to..) to make the first move, you'll be waiting forever.. And Becta is no better. Their catchphrase shouldn't be 'leading next generation learning', it should read.. 'All talk and no trousers'. These government organisations say the right things, but i've seen little (bad) to no effect to the state of ICT in schools, and just up-ing the number of PC's in schools won't get you anything. Coupled with this total lack of direction, is the total lack of teaching skills and antiquated technologies. How is any child to be prepared for the world of IT when ICT lessons are still primarily teaching 'Microsoft'. I'm all for competence using office products, but that should be part of every other lesson. English -> Word Proccessing Maths -> Spreadsheets Art -> Desktop Publishing You get the picture... ICT should be about the fundamentals of technology, which for me is the most interesting part of IT. There are endless possibilities out there in this and other related fields, but it seems that all we're gearing our kid's up for is a life in an office. No wonder there's no stampede for that career path.

By Ip_aread13a6ed2e on Saturday Aug 21

Not surprised

My daughter & son have been learning web design - by using tables. I wasn't taught tables at uni 5 yrs ago because it was an outdated method. Both children were bored with the lessons and having seen the syllabus I am not surprised. I was taught IT at 'O' level back in 81 - 83 and learned programming amongst other interesting stuff. Today our children are taught outdated methods and how to use Excel etc. What happened??

By Sharon42 on Tuesday Aug 24

The curriculum is to blame

I started with computers back in the 1980's with machines like the BBC model B, and I learned to use a computer properly, I learned how to type commands, and learned what the commands meant, I learned Basic and learned how to make programs, and now I'm a professional programmer/developer. The curriculum back then was varied and interesting. Since then I now look at what my 9yr old Niece brings home, she's so proud that she does computers because she wants to be like her uncle, but all she's getting fed is the same old spoon-fed office/windows/internet stuff that they seem to churn out in masses these days. I agree with what’s been said about Office and such likes is needed these days, but can we stop letting the needs of business and commerce dictate what schools teach these days. A good friend of mine recently returned to college as an adult to learn programming, all they did was spoon feed him the ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) and teach him how to drag & drop a database page together using Office access and Visual Basic for Applications, he can go back next year and do Drag & drop web design if he wants. and... Here in lies the problem, businesses want spoon fed productivity robots that do things fast using established patterns and who are not encouraged to think for themselves I.E: the perfect employee who does exactly what they are told how they are told, often by someone who has no idea about IT at all. Meanwhile genuine skills such as the art of software engineering are destined to be lost for ever, eventually all people will do is click a button and magic will occur, no one will ask why, or how, then somthing very bad will happen to IT globally, and there will be no one around who knows how to fix it.

By shawty on Wednesday Aug 25