What do the 2023 GCSE results mean for engineering?

“Congratulations to everyone receiving their GCSE results today,” said Beth Elgood.

“The modest increase in the numbers taking design & technology means around 87,000 students studied D&T at this level, while computing has seen an 11.6 percent uplift in entries, representing around 9,500 more students year on year. 

“Overall, the numbers taking sciences has increased roughly in line with the number of entries (up 3.4 percent). Entries for physics increased by 3.2 percent, chemistry by 3.5 percent, biology by 2.6 percent and double science by 3.5 percent. 

There’s good news for engineering, too. “We are pleased that, while overall numbers remain small, there’s been an 8.1 percent increase in the number of students taking GCSE engineering and a 23 percent increase for construction and the built environment.

Despite these positive developments, however, there remains a pressing concern regarding the gender divide within GCSE subjects. “While the rise in design & technology entries is driven by girls (up 4.79 percent), the proportion of girls taking D&T remains less than a third (31 percent), while girls account for just 21 percent of entries for computing, 17 percent for engineering, and 10 percent for construction,” said Elgood.

Elgood further underscored the importance of addressing this gender from GCSE onwards. “If the UK is to have the engineering and tech workforce it needs to thrive, we’d like to see many of the young people getting their results today – particularly girls, given female underrepresentation in engineering and technology careers – building on their learning with continued study or training in these subject areas.”