There has been a significant increase in entries for the three individual sciences, with chemistry up 20.3 per cent, biology up 18 per cent and physics up 21 per cent - which reflects our commitment to making triple science more widely available. It is also pleasing to see that A* to C results for the individual science subjects remain the highest, with all above 90 per cent.
Results for modern foreign languages (MFL) are also up, with the A* to C rate up 1.8 percentage points to 70.1 per cent in French, and up 2 percentage points in German to 74 per cent. Following Lord Dearing's recommendations, we will be making languages compulsory in primary school from 2011 to encourage children to develop a lifelong love of languages and improve take up at secondary school at Key Stage 4.
Schools Minister Vernon Coaker commented "This year's results show we are continuing to see the benefits of sustained extra investment in teachers and resources over the last twelve years. Ofsted has reported a rise in the quality of teaching, and there are now 40,000 more teachers working in our schools."
"The new secondary curriculum has given teachers flexibility to teach in a more relevant and engaging way for their pupils, and we have invested £1billion for personalised learning to provide targeted support at pre-GCSE stage for those who are falling behind"
