SpeedKingz/Shutterstock

A-level results in 2025 show the increasing popularity of Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) among students. For students taking three A-levels – the majority – the most popular combination of subjects was biology, chemistry and maths.

The subject with the greatest rise in entries from 2024 is further maths, followed by economics, maths, physics and chemistry. Maths remains the most popular subject, with entries making up 12.7% of all A-level entries.

Conversely, subjects such as French, drama, history and English literature are falling in exam entry numbers.

There is considerable incentive for young people who may be looking beyond school and university to the job market to study Stem. Research has found that Stem undergraduate degrees bring higher financial benefits to people and to the public purse than non-Stem subjects.

Many of the world’s fastest-growing jobs need Stem skills. These include data analysts, AI specialists, renewable energy engineers, app developers, cybersecurity experts and financial technology experts.

Within Stem itself, science alone is a broad church that spans astronomy to zoology and all letters of the alphabet between. Add to this the many variations of technology, engineering and maths and the range of subjects and specialisms is enormous.

It might come as no surprise, then, that young people have considerable scope in the possible careers and employment they might follow in life. From accountancy to the environment, medical engineering to computer technology, etymology to vulcanology, the possibilities are vast. There is little doubt that this very broad arena is attractive as possible employment.

Young people are choosing to study science, technology, engineering and maths.
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

What’s more, maths, engineering and the sciences are now vital parts of careers that might have once seemed unrelated. It was once the case that the division between arts and science was seen as unbridgeable: you were firmly on one side or the other. Today this is far less evident.

Artists, in their many manifestations, are almost by default material scientists. Architects, photographers, musicians, video-makers, sound and lighting technicians are (arguably) technical engineers. Landscape gardeners are environmentalists, chefs are food scientists.

Everyday Stem

Stem affects everyday life at all levels. Wearing a smart watch to track our health and fitness, as so many of us do, requires analysis of data, averages and percentages. We need maths skills to navigate our personal finances. Following directions means programming a Satnav.

Young people take their attitudes, advice and directions from a multitude of sources. Concern about the environment may lead teens to consider careers in areas such as ecology or environmental engineering. The ubiquity of social media apps and the tech companies that run them raises awareness of the use of computer science or tech skills.

And leaving aside Instagram, TikTok and other social media, Sir David Attenborough’s TV series Blue Planet prompted a surge of interest in marine ecology and plastic pollution.

Nor are young people immune to social influences more broadly. In more diffuse ways, peers and parents are also influential in shaping career choices, as are science centres, museums, botanical gardens, planetariums, aquariums, environmental centres, city farms and such like.

Then there are teachers and schools. Positive experiences in school Stem prompt further study. There is increasing evidence that individual project work, industrial placements, role-model scientists, school outreach and class visits all play an important part in promoting career intentions and aspirations.

One important factor here is imbuing students with a positive Stem identity. When young people think they are good at Stem subjects and are able to be successful, they are much more likely to choose a Stem career.

The upshot here is that, as the world changes, and changes quickly, so does the realisation that Stem is an essential and invaluable dimension of life and that career prospects are varied and available at many, many levels. It seems little wonder that students have to come to see this and are enrolling in study and employment in greater numbers than before.

Mike Watts does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.