A-level ‘tweak’ turns women into engineers

THE number of women taking engineering degrees at Universit y College London has almost tripled after it dropped the requirement to study physics and maths at A-level.

UCL is believed to be the only university to remove the subjects from its entry criteria for civil engineering courses. Paul Greening, director of its centre for engineering education, urged other universities to follow suit rather than “begging” girls to study physics, and said standards are as high as ever.

He said UCL’s civil, environmental and geomatic engineering department (CEGE) tweaked its entry requirements because it was missing out on bright students whose A-level choices had left them unable to apply.

Prospective students no lo n ge r required to take specific A-level subjects, but must still score all A grades at A-level, and get top grades in maths and science GCSEs.

Dr Greening said: “We went to visit a school in Southend and met a bunch of polymath students who were brilliant at lots of things. They found it difficult to choose which three subjects they would focus on at A-level. A lot didn’t choose maths and physics but would have been brilliant at them.

“We decided to try to tap into that gang. We weren’t roving around the country saying ‘ we need to do something to get more girls in’, but it was clear that a lot of this gang were girls.”

He also pointed out that only about 20 per cent of students who take physics A-level are female. Other subjects such as design and technology are equally useful, he said.

Dr Greening said many of the students with non-traditional A-levels outperform their peers. They are given extra maths lessons to catch up. About 10 per cent of students at CEGE do not have maths and physics A-levels.

In 2006, when the entry requirements were changed, there were 252 female students in the department (21 per cent of the total). Last year there were 752 (29 per cent of the total).

UCL hopes to increase the number of female students to 50 per cent.