Let’s reform engineering GCSE rather than removing it

It’s no secret that the engineering and technology sector is facing a significant skills shortfall over the coming years. According to Engineering UK, we need to find 87,000 new engineers each year for the next decade, which is an enormous challenge.

The IET’s 2014 Engineering and Technology: Skills & Demand in Industry report found that the engineering skills shortage has become more acute with more than half of employers concerned that they can’t recruit the engineers they need for their businesses to expand.

The 2014 GCSE engineering results show a 73% increase from 2,897 in 2013 to 5,027 students in 2014 successfully studying GCSE engineering. This suggests that there is a growing appetite for vocational GCSE subjects.

It is incredibly important that we have a range of routes into engineering – both vocational and academic.

That’s why the IET is warning that the Government proposal to remove GCSE engineering could make the skills crisis an even bigger cause of concern for UK employers. Instead of scrapping the subject, it would make more sense to ensure it is fit for purpose by developing the qualification – perhaps to include more vocational elements – through the input of employers.

The IET has already highlighted this to Ofqual following their proposals to streamline the number of GCSE courses as a result of low numbers of students studying the subjects. Engineering is one of the proposed casualties. Others include electronics and manufacturing GCSEs.

The 2014 GCSE engineering results show a 73% increase from 2,897 in 2013 to 5,027 students in 2014 successfully studying GCSE engineering. This suggests that there is a growing appetite for vocational GCSE subjects, so why not capitalise on this as an opportunity to attract more young people into areas of high demand and low supply such as engineering. 

It is important that students engage with the discipline of engineering as early as possible. The engineering GCSE builds on key skills applicable to many areas and develops a systems thinking approach in addition to allowing for the application of mathematics. It also helps build awareness of engineering as a vocational career choice. If engineering is absent from schools, we risk fewer young people considering it as a career. This is a risk we can ill afford.

Rather than removing the subject, let’s develop it so that we can produce the engineers and technicans we desperately need.

Nigel Fine is chief executive of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)