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The lack of skilled teachers is the biggest problem, the report found
More than half of England's secondary schools, 54%, did not offer GCSE computer science in 2015-16, a report from the Royal Society has found.
It urged the government (19459012)
The biggest issue was the lack of skilled teachers, the report found
The Department for Education said more pupils were choosing the subject.
"We want to ensure our future productivity and economy of this country and that is why the government made computing a compulsory part of the national curriculum, "said a spokesperson.
" Computer science GCSE entries continue to rise more quickly than any other subject.
"We recently saw an increase in entries to Stem subjects [science, technology, engineering and maths] for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and the number of girls taking Stem subjects at A-levels has increased by over 17% since 2010.
"Since 2012, the department has pledged £ 5m to the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science program, which has built a major network of nearly 400 computer science specialists (schools) to provide bespoke training for their teachers. "
Computer science in numbers
- The number of schools not offering the subject at GCSE represented 30% of the total number of pupils in England
- Across the UK, the report found that that only 11% of students in England took GCSE computer science
- In 2017 only 20% of GCSE candidates in the subject were female and the figure fell to 10% at A-level
- Bournemouth had the highest percentage of pupils (23%) opting to take computer science
- Hartlepool, Harrow and Bracknell Forest has the highest proportion of school offering the subject at GCSE level, not including the Isles of Scilly which has a 100% rate as it teaches it at its only school
- Two in three schools near London's technology hub in East London, did not offer it to pupils as a GSCE option
- Other London boroughs, including Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Tower Hamlets and the City of London also had a low proportion of schools offering the subject
The Royal Society, the UK's independent scientific academy, is concerned about how the lack of computing expertise will affect the future workforce.
Prof. Steve Furber, who worked on the report, said: Computing teachers have told us that they feel the government rushed in a new curriculum without giving them the support or money to deliver it.
"The report paints a bleak picture in England, which meets only 68% of its computing "
He added that," Overhauling the fragile state of our computing education "would require an ambitious, multipronged approach.
The Royal Society called for:
- A £ 60m investment in computer education over the next five years
- The training of 8,000 secondary school computing teachers
by Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News technology correspondent
This report the revolution in computing education in the UK has stalled.
Five years ago a head of steam builds that ICT GCSE is not fit for purpose, Microsoft Office less than how to use.
The government responded by taking ICT off the National Curriculum and replacing it with computer science.
But this course is proving to be more demanding of both pupils and teachers, and many schools have decided that it is not worth the bother at a time when resources are tight.
Some ICT teachers who have always argued that it was a practical course, attractive to a far wider range of children, are now saying "I told you so ".
But across the world of computing education there is agreement on one thing - more money needs to be spent on training teachers in this vital subject.
Prof. Furber's views were echoed by technology firms
Google's UK managing director Ronan Harris said: "There is still much more to do to ensure the young people across the UK have access to computer science education.
"Whatever school they have to understand and the principles and practices of computing. "
And Microsoft's UK chief executive Cindy Rose said:" The risk, if we do not make these investments, is that too many young people struggle to access new opportunities and the UK loses its advantage in a world being transformed by technology. "
