A-level trends: Which subjects are on the up or falling out of favour?

Here are some of the key subject trends in this year’s A-level results:

– Subjects on the up

The health of the UK economy may be a matter of debate but there is no argument over the health of A-level economics, which is flourishing.

It had 40,451 entries in 2024, more than ever, up 3% year-on-year and 52% since 2014.

Economics was the 10th most popular A-level overall and the third most popular subject among boys, behind only maths and physics.

Business studies is also continuing to do well, with entries increasing 10 years in a row to a new high of 44,961: enough to lift it one place in the top 10 most popular subjects overall, from seventh to sixth.

Entries for business studies are 68% higher than a decade ago.

There were 20,370 entries for computing, another new high, up 11% on last year and nearly double the 10,286 entries just six years ago in 2018.

– Subjects falling out favour

The long-term decline in the popularity of performing arts subjects shows no sign of reversing.

Drama entries fell 6% year-on-year and have almost halved in the past 15 years, dropping 46% from 16,925 in 2009 to 8,654 in 2024.

There was a very slight rise in music entries this year, up from 5,493 in 2023 to 5,517, but this is still down 47% on the number 15 years ago (10,425).

Entries for performing/expressive arts have sunk even lower, with just 1,170 this year compared with 1,203 in 2023 and 3,591 in 2009.

Religious studies is another subject trending downwards, though it remains a more popular choice than any of the performing arts, with 16,622 entries this year – down 1% from 16,853 last year, and down 39% from a peak of 27,032 entries in 2016.

– No change at the top

The top five most popular subject choices were unchanged for the fifth year in a row: maths, psychology, biology, chemistry and history.

The top five for boys was maths, physics, economics, chemistry and biology, while the top five for girls was psychology, biology, maths, chemistry and sociology.

– A boost for foreign languages

The “big three” foreign languages at A-level – Spanish, French and German – all saw an increase in entries this year.

Spanish entries rose from 8,110 to 8,238, French from 7,063 to 7,544 and German from 2,358 to 2,431: not sharp jumps by any means but a change from the pattern of recent years which saw steep declines for both French and German.

The long-term picture is still pretty grim, with French having stood as high as 15,149 entries 20 years ago and 10,433 10 years ago, while German had 6,390 entries in 2004 and 4,187 in 2014.

But the small rise in entries this year might suggest the decline has come to a halt and even gone into reverse.

– Gender imbalance in subjects

Computing recorded the biggest gender imbalance towards males, with boys making up 83% of entries and girls 17%.

Physics (77% boys, 23% girls) and further maths (73% boys, 27% girls) were among the other subjects skewed heavily towards males.

The biggest imbalance towards females was in the relatively new subject of health and social care.

In the double award for this subject, girls made up 96% of entries and boys just 4%.

Performing/expressive arts (91% girls, 9% boys) and Welsh as a first language (82% girls, 18% boys) were other examples of subjects with predominantly female entries.