Shocking: Only four girls take A-level Computing in Northern Ireland

PC Pro reports that the number of students taking A-level computing has fallen to such low levels that only four girls took the subject in the whole of Northern Ireland this year. To add to this, only 52 students took the course.

These figures are not only alarming for a nation that has a million 16-25 year olds out of work, but is the continuation of a trend that has seen the number of British computing graduates decline by two-thirds over the past decade.

Looking at the whole of the UK, only 0.4% of the students sat A-level’s in computing. A mere 3,809 students took up the course in contrast to 4,002 last year. Out of which only 297 were girls.

The IT skills and gender gap issues have been in the news for far too long now, and with the decline in A-level computing students, businesses need to work with the Government, colleges and universities to educate and support each other to resolve this issue.  It’s time for all to act now otherwise we’ll become a nation that not only imports goods, but imports talent too.

@nahidur