Commenting on today’s A-Level results, TIGA said that it was encouraging to see that entries for mathematics and physics at A-Level had
increased this year, however, it was worrying that computing entries had
continued to decline. Disappointingly, entries for art and design had
also fallen this year.
TIGA remains concerned by the low proportion of females taking subjects
such as computing and physics. There were 3,700 male entries for
computing this year compared with only 302 female entries. This gap has a
knock-on effect for the games development industry, limiting the
potential supply of people available to work.
A-Level results for 2011 show:
• An increase of 5,994 entries for mathematics (and an improvement of
0.7% at grade A or above, with 17.8% gaining the A* grade);
• An increase of 605 entries for further mathematics (and a decrease of
3.5% at grade A or above, with 27.5% gaining the A* grade);
• An increase of 1,884 entries for physics (with an improvement of 0.2% at grade A or above, with 10.4% gaining the A* grade);
• A fall of 65 entries for art and design (with an improvement of 1.4%
at grade A or above, with 14.2% gaining the A* grade); and
• A fall of 65 in entries for computing (with an increase of 0.4% at grade A or above, with 3.7% gaining the A* grade).
Commenting on the 2011 A-Level results, Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:
“Computer games developers need talented young students coming through
our education institutions with a mastery of subjects such as physics,
art, mathematics, and computing. Whilst the increase in entries for
mathematics and physics is encouraging to see, the continued decline in
entries in computing is particularly concerning.
“The UK games industry needs a highly skilled work force in order to
compete effectively. The Government needs to encourage students to study
STEM subjects and other subjects which are relevant to the creative
industries.
“The Government needs to actively consider incentives to encourage
greater numbers of students to study STEM subjects at A-Level, in
particular mathematics. These are vital skills to the games industry’s
future success.
“For our part at TIGA we will continue to work with universities and
colleges, private training providers, and developers to ensure that we
have a world-beating workforce.”
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