Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy for future need of the number of current and projected students studying STEM subjects.

Science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) skills are in demand by employers across the country, and such demand is growing. The department is investing in STEM education at all levels to ensure people have access to high-quality STEM teaching and can access STEM career opportunities to meet current and future demand. The number of students studying STEM subjects is already growing. Between 2019 and 2022, there was a 9% increase in the number of UK students accepted onto full-time undergraduate STEM courses[1] in the UK, with uptake of Computer Science degrees among the fastest growing.

Employers have designed over 360 high-quality apprenticeship standards in STEM sectors, including over 100 at levels 6 and 7, to support individuals in England looking to start, or progress, in a career in STEM. 33% of all apprenticeship starts in the first half of 2022/23 academic year have been in STEM. The department is increasing investment in apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year to support more of these high-quality opportunities.

The department’s Unit for Future Skills (UFS) is working to improve the quality of jobs and skills data, which will support a better understanding of current skill mismatches and future demand across key sectors, including those related to STEM. As part of cross-government work to cement the UK’s status as a science and technology superpower by 2030, the UFS is developing a Skills Dashboard to understand the supply and demand of science and technology skills for priority technologies.

[1] UCAS data 2019 and 2022.