THE study of physics in schools and universities is in long- term decline as many teenagers believe the subject is too hard, academics warn.

The number of A-level exam entries has halved since 1982, research from education specialists at the Buckingham University found. And one in four universities which previously had significant numbers of undergraduates studying physics have stopped teaching the subject since 1994.

Prof. Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson, who wrote the report, warned the problem was likely to get worse as fewer physics graduates were training to teach the subject in schools.

Prof. Smithers said: "Physics is in the grip of a long-term downward spiral.

Pool

"Not enough young people come through to take physics degrees, which means that the pool from which to recruit teachers is not large enough and science teaching is left to biologists to a greater extent than is desirable.

"As a result, many young people do not get sufficient opportunity to discover if they are good at physics and they are naturally disinclined to take what they believe is a difficult subject at A-level when there is an ever- greater range of subjects available."

The analysis found that only just over 3.8 per cent of 16-year-olds took A-level physics in 2004 compared with about six per cent in 1990.

The decline hit all types of schools in England, but independent schools and academically selective grammar schools were less affected than further education colleges, the report said.

But while the number of A-level entries had fallen overall to just 28,119 last year, down from 55,728 in 1982, pupils have been scoring better grades.

The number of A-grades awarded actually increased by 27.2 per cent - up from 6,323 in 1990 to 8,042 in 2005.

However, the academics said that attempts to encourage more girls to take up the male-dominated subject had stalled, alongside the general decline.

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