Key facts

Key facts

Entries to design and technology GCSE in England have declined 67% between 2011-23,

67%...compared with Scotland’s fall of 24%, and only 4% in Northern Ireland. On average, 44% of English students (280,000 entries) took a D&T GCSE in 2009, but this fell to just 13% of students (78,000 entries) in 2023.

Far fewer students in England are also taking D&T at A level.

9,010 achieved a D&T A-level in 2023, down from 15,244 students in 2010. There is an annual decline of approximately 5-6% year-on-year.

1.6% - Pupils who did not enter a D&T GCSE were very unlikely to continue studying design and technology post-16 (only 1.6% do).

Art and design qualifications appear more stable, but this stability is propped up by students moving across from D&T.

+5% Across the UK, there were 188,193 GCSE entries in 2010 and 198,302 entries in 2023 (+5%). Art and design A-Level entries show a decline from 46,054 in 2010 to 43,464 in 2023 (-6%.

40% Regionally D&T uptake is uneven, with entries ranging from nearly 40% of pupils taking D&T at GCSE in Herefordshire compared to just 4% in Middlesbrough.

While in 2023, D&T GCSE numbers were stable for the first time, there was a reduction in the numbers taking art and design.

A Level entries for both D&T and art and design continued to fall. Without specific changes to encourage take-up, the long-term declining trend in D&T is showing no sign of reversing20.

6,500 - The number of D&T teachers has halved in the last decade, from just under 15,000 in 2009 to less than 6,500 qualified teachers today.

There is an annual decline of 6.5% in line with shortfalls in recruitment, poor retention, and demographic trends of retirement.

In 2022/23, 21% of D&T teaching hours were taught by non-specialists, rising by 4.8% since last year the highest rise of any subject.

Postgraduate initial teacher training recruitment has continually fallen short of targets for design and technology subjects, with actual recruitment accounting for just 25% of the target in 2022/23.

25% - Art and Design Initial Teacher Education recruitment is as low as 44% of the target. It is unclear to what extent the decline in teachers and GCSE entries are drivers of each other.