Entries for GCSE and A-level computing exams have jumped by over 10 per cent this year, according to provisional Department for Education figures published today.
The number of entries for GCSE computing was up by 11.9 per cent, from 79,135 last year to 88,530 this year, and by 14.5 per cent at A level (15,210 to 17,420).
The overall number of entries for this summer’s exams for both GCSE and A levels has also risen, according to figures published by exams regulator Ofqual.
Overall entries for English Baccalaureate subjects increased by 4 per cent, from 4,378,110 in 2022 to 4,554,415 in 2023.
Meanwhile, in modern foreign languages, German GCSE entries fell by 5.7 per cent (36,000 to 33,950), while GCSE Spanish entries were up by 4.6 per cent (116,355 to 121,670). Other language GCSEs were up by 8.1 per cent.
Entries for GCSE history also saw a jump, rising by 7 per cent (279,205 to 298,155).
Most arts subjects have seen a decline, with performing arts A-level entries down by almost a fifth (19 per cent), from 1,175 in 2022 to 955 this summer, and down 12 per cent on 2019 figures.
Music and drama have both fallen by 7 per cent year-on-year.
The picture is similar at GCSE level, where entries for performing arts are down 16 per cent on 2022 and 26 per cent on 2019.
Music and drama GCSE entries are both down by 14 per cent on 2019, with music seeing a 12 per cent fall year-on-year and drama a 7 per cent fall year-on-year.
Entries for art and design subjects are down 3 per cent year-on-year for both A levels and GCSEs.
Last summer saw English literature fall out of the top 10 most popular subjects at A level for the first time. Provisional figures for this year show a slight rise of 3 per cent in entries, up to 34,000 from 32,910 last summer, though entries are down 9 per cent since 2019.
Computing and business studies rising in popularity
Last year saw more students choose to study computing at GCSE than physical education for the first time since the technology-based subject was introduced.
This year, entries for GCSE PE are up 5 per cent since 2022, but down 8 per cent on 2019.
Another subject enjoying an ongoing rise in popularity is business studies, with provisional GCSE entries up by 27 per cent since 2019 and A-level entries up by 34 per cent.
Overall, the total number of GCSE entries went up by 3.6 per cent on last year to 5,543,840, while A-level entries went up by 2.3 per cent to 806,410. But AS-level entries went down to 62,785, a drop of 2 per cent on 2022.
The overall entries for GCSEs have been slowly but steadily increasing for the past five years.
The DfE said the majority of GCSE entries are from Year 11 students, the number of which is higher this year than at any time in the past five years. It added that this could be partly because of a 10.4 per cent increase in the size of the population of 16-year-olds over the last five years, from 613,025 in 2019 to 676,773 in 2023, according to Office for National Statistics population estimates.
The increase of 3.6 per cent for GCSE entries in summer 2023 is reflected in a rise in entries for both EBacc subjects and non-EBacc subjects.
