Too much content, not enough time

Despite following different curricula, there was agreement across all nations that there is too much content to teach within the time available.

This was a particular challenge at Key Stage 4 (KS4, age 14-16) for state schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where 73% of respondents said the amount of content was a challenge across all sciences. And, when looking at chemistry specifically, one in four teachers said this is a barrier to great science teaching.

Challenges faced in teaching the science curriculum at KS4 (% of respondents)

Too much content: 73
Too demanding students to access: 68
Difficult to find time for planning: 48
Challenging student behaviour: 45
Marking workload too high: 40
Some content outside area of expertise: 19
No clear progression: 10
Curriculum documents not clear: 9
None, I don't experience any challenges: 3

Q. What challenges, if any, do you personally face in teaching the science curriculum at KS4? (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Base n = 1,852, state mainstream secondary schools only (overall at KS4) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Weighted data. Only responses >5% shown.

Teachers said that changes to the curriculum and assessment would have the biggest positive impact on science education. This was consistent across all nations.

"The curriculum has too much in it, and then you end up having to rush through things to get everything covered, which is the biggest problem. There鈥檚 not enough time."
Science and physics teacher, early career, state school, Scotland

"Teaching science for those students who are likely to only get a level 2 or below in a way that's useful to their lives rather than trying to get them a GCSE grade which is too low to be useful, i.e. teaching them how vaccines actually work or how insulating their house is important."
Biology teacher, mid-career, private/independent school, England

What we are doing

We will continue to influence the development of chemistry curricula and qualifications by governments and other authorities in the UK and Ireland.

In The elements of a successful chemistry curriculum we set out a framework for what we believe is the core of a chemistry curriculum. It is designed to inspire learners and demonstrates chemistry鈥檚 potential to address some of the major problems facing society today.

We know from our previous research that educators and young people think that climate change and sustainability should be priorities for the chemistry curriculum. Read more in our report Green Shoots: A sustainable chemistry curriculum for a sustainable planet.

Through our and webpages, we will continue to help teachers contextualise learning and to demonstrate the breadth of careers that chemistry opens doors to.

The grants and funding we offer run throughout the year and include:

the which supports collaborative projects to improve chemistry teaching or foster supportive and effective chemistry teaching communities
, helping teachers to address the impacts of COVID-19 on learning
the Outreach Fund for developing chemistry-based enrichment activities
for small educational projects