The UK is one of just a handful of countries where teenagers do well at science, enjoy it and want to become scientists, international research revealed this week.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results, published on Tuesday, delivered mixed news for the UK, revealing that although pupils’ scores had dropped in science, the country had managed to climb six places up the ranking to 15th place.

Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which produces Pisa, revealed that the UK was among only seven countries where pupils had above-average science performance and stronger than average beliefs in scientific approaches, and where an above-average percentage of pupils expected to go on to work in a science-related occupation.

The other countries were Singapore, Canada, Slovenia, Australia, Ireland and Portugal. Other high-performing countries, such as South Korea and China, had students who did well in science but who were not interested in becoming scientists, Mr Schleicher said. In the US, many students wanted to become scientists “but lack the knowledge and skills to live up to their dreams”, he added.

‘It’s about making science relevant’

Mr Schleicher said that having both a scientific attitude to knowledge and an enjoyment of science was the link between students doing well at science in school and wanting to make it a career.

“It is not about success on a science test,” he said. “It is about engaging students and making science relevant. It is making them think like a scientist - that is the key to success.”

* While Pisa is being scrutinised by educationalists and policymakers this week, most of the public do not take much notice of Britain’s place in the international rankings, a new poll suggests.

The poll by YouGov for educational consultancy PLMR asked more than 1,500 adults what importance, if any, they placed on the results of international tests such as Pisa. Only 30 per cent of people placed any importance on the results, with just 5 per cent saying they placed “a great deal of importance” on them.

@teshelen

This is an edited version of an article in the 9 December edition of TES. Subscribers can read the full article here. To subscribe, click here. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here.  This week’s TES magazine is available at all good newsagents.