Number of people studying science at A level

The number of students studying science has fallen over the last decade, with associated decreases in the number of science graduates. If this trend continues if could reduce the supply of healthcare scientists, as the NHS competes with other science professions to recruit a limited pool of talent.

Over recent years the number of students choosing to study A level science has decreased. This limits the number of science graduates and reduces the talent pool for healthcare science professions to recruit from. The NHS competes for the limited number of science graduates with other fields such manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, which are often perceived to offer more “interesting” and “rewarding” scientific career paths.

A continued reduction in supply of healthcare scientists could mean the NHS has to rely on overseas recruitment to fill these positions. This could have implications for quality of care in the NHS if the recruits do not have the comparable level of training or have NHS experience.

The “Brian Cox effect” – mainstreaming science and making it accessible to the wider population. This may reverse this idea by increasing the public’s interest in and awareness of science, which could increase the number people who choose to study the subject.

Sources or references

• CfWI Health care scientist scenario generation workshop

Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.