Common sense for the science curriculum?

Yesterday, 150 scientists and academics had the audacity to lobby the UK Government to give climate change and sustainability a bigger place in the curriculum Link.

Imagine that — students spending time in science on something relevant to their future.

But these campaigners seem to have forgotten something important. The reason government made science a core subject is nothing to do with its usefulness. Its job is to feed the STEM pipeline and guarantee enough workers for the UK's economy.

Besides, there’s absolutely no room in the science curriculum for any more stuff. We’re far too busy cramming in every possible fact that a future scientist might need one day.

There is another option, but it’s so radical I hesitate to suggest it. 

Here’s the thing: by age 14, we already know which students won’t need all that science-for-future-scientists stuff.

Who are they? That's right they’re the students taking Combined Science.

The stats say it all — only 1% of Combined Science students opt for Physics A level, 2% for Chemistry and a whopping 4% for Biology (Cambridge Assessment,2024) Link.

So if these students won't need most of the facts, why not just throw some of them out and make space to study what they will need — like  climate change and sustainability.

I know — it sounds too much like common sense for a government to take this seriously.