TIGA laments decline in computer studies at A-Level
Only ten per cent of students graduating in computing today are female, says UK trade body
UK trade organisation TIGA has pointed out that the number of students awarded a computing A-Level this year has dropped, claiming that the statistics represent a dwindling recruitment pool for the UK games industry.
The body was pleased by the increase in A-levels awarded for art and design, mathematics, further mathematics and physics, but indicated that the low numbers of computing applicants was a worry, additionally highlighting the fact that only ten per cent of the computing students were female.
TIGA chief executive Richard Wilson responded to the A-level figures released today, stating: "Computer games developers need gifted people with a mastery of subjects such as physics, art, mathematics and computing. It is encouraging to see increases in A-Level entries for some of these subjects, but the continuing decline in entries for computing is disappointing.
"The games development sector is suffering a skills shortage. The Government needs to encourage greater numbers to study these subjects through measures such as lower tuition fees for computer science and mathematics degree courses."
The results showed that boys form the majority of mathematics and computing applicants at A-Level. 45,737 males took A-Level maths compared to 31,264 females this year, while 3,704 males took A-Level computing compared to only 361 females.