{"id":247395,"date":"2026-06-09T13:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=247395"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:31:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:31:45","slug":"gcse-computing-entries-drop-by-10000-in-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/gcse-computing-entries-drop-by-10000-in-two-years\/","title":{"rendered":"GCSE computing entries drop by 10,000 in two years"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 10,000 fewer students are sitting GCSE computing compared to two years ago, while French has also seen a sharp decline.<\/p>\n

Ofqual has released its provisional entry statistics for GCSEs and A-levels<\/a> for this year’s summer exams.<\/p>\n

Here’s what you need to know…<\/p>\n

1. Overall entries up again after dip<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Last year\u2019s<\/a> GCSE and A-level entries saw a drop in entries by 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. This was despite the slight increase in the number of 16- and 18-year-olds that year.<\/p>\n

This was also after the number of GCSE entries had been “slowly but steadily increasing” since 2021.<\/p>\n

At the time Ofqual said the decrease in A-level entries was because that cohort had sat their GCSEs in 2023, when grading went back to pre-pandemic standards after grades soared due to Covid marking.<\/p>\n

But GCSE entries increased by 1.1 per cent, to 5,840,185 in summer 2026.<\/p>\n

The number of A-level entries have also increased to 845,485 \u2013 a 2.9 per cent rise. This was down to a 4.3 per cent increase in the number of 18 year olds, Ofqual said.<\/p>\n

AS-level entries decreased by 3.2 per cent, continuing a decline seen since they were decoupled from A-levels a decade ago.<\/p>\n

2. Computing and French GCSE entries fall <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The number of students taking GCSE computing fell by 7 per cent compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n

The subject had started to decline last year after year-on-year rises since 2022, peaking at 93,980 entries in 2024. But this summer just 83,330 students have entered the subject.<\/p>\n

French also saw a 5.5 per cent drop. Entries rose between 2022 and 2024 to 130,650 but have dropped to 121,040 this year.<\/p>\n

German saw a slight rise of 0.3 per cent to 32,525, after entries fell by 7.6 per cent last year.<\/p>\n

Spanish is now firmly the most popular language GCSE, rising by 0.5 per cent to 132,680 entries this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Source: Ofqual<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Biology, chemistry and physics also saw a further decline in entries, with each subject seeing a 1 per cent decrease. However combined science saw a rise of 1.8 per cent.<\/p>\n

The number of students taking the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) suite of subjects increased by 0.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

The government announced last year that the measure would be scrapped as part of its curriculum and assessment review.<\/p>\n

But pupils generally choose their GCSE options in year 9, meaning the impact of the government\u2019s decision won\u2019t be seen immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n

Out of the EBacc subjects, GCSE maths saw the biggest rise in entries at 2.4 per cent.<\/p>\n

3. Statistics GCSE entries up by more than 10% <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The non-EBacc subjects with the biggest decreases in entries included other sciences (down 17.3 per cent), classical subjects (down 8.9 per cent) and engineering (down 8.3 per cent).<\/p>\n

But media\/film\/TV studies saw a 5.1 per cent rise, business studies rose by 8.5 per cent and statistics rose by 11.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

Overall entry for non-EBacc subjects increased by 2.2 per cent this year.<\/p>\n

4. Politics A-level on the rise…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Moving on to A-levels, politics saw the largest increase of 13.1 per cent. This was followed by law (11.6 per cent), economics (10.7 per cent) and further maths (8.6 per cent).<\/p>\n

A-level maths, psychology and biology remain the most popular subjects this year, with maths attracting 109,875 entries, psychology getting 76,765 entries and biology attaining 68,860 entries.<\/p>\n

These subjects each saw an increase of 3.9 per cent, 4.4 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Source: Ofqual<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5. \u2026but classics, drama and English literature face decline <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, classics A-level saw the largest decline, with 9.6 per cent fewer entries.<\/p>\n

Drama and music also saw a decline of 9.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively.<\/p>\n

English literature A-level also saw a 5.8 per cent drop in entries, despite English going up by 4 per cent, and English language and literature and increasing slightly by 0.6 per cent.<\/p>\n

But English literature still gets more far entries than either of those subjects at 32,890, making it the 11th<\/sup> most popular subject at A-level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The once popular subject has seen a sharp decline in entries since 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":316072,"featured_media":247368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[463,147],"post-theme":[2345],"class_list":["post-247395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-assessment","tag-ofqual","post-theme-assessment"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t