Boost in popularity for Chemistry A Level

Chemistry has now overtaken history as the fourth most popular A Level subject.

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, chemistry has moved up the popularity chart in A Level, with 6.3 per cent of the total number of entrants.

Society president, Professor Sir John Holman, says: "Over 50,000 students – almost exactly equal numbers of males and females – made the wise choice to take A Level chemistry, which opens so many doors to rich future careers.

“I congratulate these students on their choice and on their hard work over the past two years."

However, AS Levels have dropped significantly following reforms to 13 subjects which began in 2015, resulting in an average of 39.1 per cent of fewer entrants across all subjects.

Changes to the system mean that 13 A Level subjects were decided by final exams, with no link to coursework or AS Levels and as a result has led to many schools choosing not to offer AS Levels or have not entered as many pupils for that qualification.

A dramatic fall in entries for AS-levels across the reformed subjects includes a 55 per cent drop in entries for chemistry. However, this drop is comparable to that for other sciences, and less pronounced than the fall in entries for some other subjects.