UK Physics in Crisis
UK Physics in Crisis: The Perfect Storm
Exam Board Failures, Teacher Shortages, and the Threat to University Departments
(Based on verified 2025 reports from the Institute of Physics, Physics World, The Guardian, and WISE Campaign)
Introduction: A Record Year Overshadowed by Systemic Failures
In 2025, A-Level Physics reached its highest participation rate in 25 years — nearly 45,000 entries, a 4.3% rise from 2024. Female participation also grew by 7.9%, bringing women to 24% of the cohort.
But beneath these encouraging figures lies a stark contradiction. According to verified data from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Physics World, and The Guardian, the UK’s physics education system is now facing a perfect storm of interconnected crises:
Exam board failures at AQA and OCR A that undermine assessment reliability.
A chronic shortage of specialist physics teachers across state schools.
A higher education funding collapse, with a quarter of university departments at risk of closure.
Each issue is severe on its own — together, they threaten the entire national pipeline for future physicists and engineers.
1. Exam Board Failures: When Quality Control Breaks Down
OCR A — Errors That Shook Confidence
In 2025, OCR’s Physics (A) Papers 1 and 2 contained multiple verified errors. Erratum notices were issued at the start of exams, unsettling students and disrupting focus. Crucially, one significant error in Paper 2 went undetected until after the exam, leaving students “stuck” and unable to progress.
Teacher feedback confirmed the scale of the problem:
41% of physics teachers were dissatisfied with OCR’s exams.
58% reported students had a negative experience.
The IOP described the situation as a major breakdown in assessment integrity.
AQA — Accessibility in Question
AQA’s problems were structural rather than factual. Their 2025 Physics Paper 2 was described as linguistically “inaccessible” and confusing, causing widespread time pressure and frustration.
Despite previous IOP consultations, the same issues seen in 2023 and 2024 reappeared. Two-thirds of teachers reported that students had a negative experience — some leaving exams in tears.
“Students came out of the exams feeling disheartened,” said one head of physics. “They felt like they couldn’t do physics.”
Assessment Equity at Risk
The IOP warned that the usual grade boundary adjustments “may fail to compensate fully” for the damage caused by these papers. The Institute urged universities to account for these “exceptional circumstances” during admissions, particularly for students from widening participation backgrounds already facing systemic disadvantage.
The Edexcel Exception
Claims that Edexcel faced similar issues in 2025 are unverified. The IOP’s official communication focused solely on AQA and OCR. Edexcel publicly stated their exams were “error-free,” with teachers and students reporting improved accessibility compared with 2024.
2. University Departments on the Brink
A Quarter of Physics Departments at Risk
An August 2025 IOP survey of UK university physics departments revealed a severe funding crisis:
26% of departments face potential closure within two years.
60% expect to cut or close degree courses.
Over 80% anticipate job losses.
“Many departments are close to breaking point,” one head told the IOP, citing a £30 million deficit and frozen recruitment.
The Economic Reality
Physics is expensive to teach — laboratory-intensive, equipment-heavy, and staff-dependent. Flat government grants, rising costs, and declining international student enrolment have converged to create an existential threat.
Prof. Daniel Thomas, chair of the IOP Heads of Physics Forum, warned that if capacity is lost now, “the UK’s leadership in quantum, photonics, defence, and green technologies becomes unsustainable.”
The Admissions Paradox
The UK is simultaneously producing record numbers of A-Level Physics candidates and closing the very departments meant to receive them. This contradiction could derail years of outreach work.
If motivated students cannot find viable degree programmes, interest in the subject will inevitably decline — creating a feedback loop that accelerates the crisis.
3. The Physics Teacher Shortage: The Bottleneck No One Can Ignore
A Quarter of Schools Without a Specialist
A 2025 IOP analysis, confirmed by The Guardian, found that 25% of English state schools now lack a qualified physics teacher. This affects more than 700,000 GCSE students, most of whom are taught by non-specialists.
This shortage directly suppresses A-Level uptake. Students without access to a specialist teacher are half as likely to progress to A-Level Physics. The IOP estimates that at least 12,000 students per year are missing from the A-Level pipeline as a direct consequence.
A Deepening Inequality
The shortage is most severe in disadvantaged areas. Only 4% of students in the lowest socioeconomic quintile take Physics A-Level, compared with 11% in the highest.
Furthermore, 70% of A-Level Physics students come from just 30% of schools, creating an overreliance on a small number of “feeder schools” that disproportionately sustain the national physics pipeline.
“Physics talent is not scarce — opportunity is,” concluded the IOP’s education workforce report.
A Preventable Crisis
The IOP has called for a 10-year, £120 million investment to rebuild the specialist workforce — around £12 million per year. The plan focuses on:
Retention support and reduced workload for early-career teachers.
National recruitment incentives.
Retraining pathways for existing science teachers to specialise in physics.
4. The Interlocking Crisis: A System at Risk
The verified evidence from 2025 shows that UK physics education is not suffering from low interest — but from systemic fragility at every level.
Each crisis amplifies the others. A broken assessment system feeds into inequitable admissions; weak teacher recruitment constrains intake; collapsing departments erode higher-level training. The UK’s long-term technological resilience — in defence, green energy, AI, quantum, and data science — depends on restoring stability across all three fronts.
5. Strategic Recommendations
To reverse this decline, the Institute of Physics and sector experts recommend a coordinated, three-pronged national response:
1. Stabilise University Physics Departments
Introduce targeted government funding to offset high teaching costs.
Create an “early-warning system” for at-risk departments.
Maintain the graduate visa and protect international student revenue streams.
2. Rebuild the Teacher Workforce
Implement the IOP’s £120 million, decade-long investment strategy.
Prioritise retention through improved working conditions.
Expand retraining for existing science teachers to gain physics specialism.
3. Restore Assessment Integrity
Commission an independent audit of OCR and AQA quality assurance.
Mandate plain-language question reviews to ensure accessibility.
Reinstate teacher consultation as a formal part of exam design.
Conclusion: The Future Depends on Fixing the System
The UK physics ecosystem now faces a verified, interconnected triple crisis. Record student enthusiasm is being met with unreliable exams, insufficient teachers, and shrinking university capacity.
If policymakers and regulators act now, this could still be the decade that redefines the accessibility and integrity of physics education. If not, the UK risks losing not only a generation of physicists, but the technological leadership built upon them.
Other Relevant Articles:
A level Physics and Your Career
How A-Level Physics Propels Future Earnings, University Success, and Career Opportunities
References
Physics World (4 September 2025): “Errors in A-level physics papers could jeopardize student university admissions.”
The Guardian (2 September 2025): “Quarter of schools in England lack a physics teacher.”
The Guardian (August 2025): “Quarter of university physics departments at risk of closing.”
Institute of Physics (2025): Physics Matters: Funding the Foundations of Growth.
WISE Campaign (2025): A-Level Results 2025: STEM Participation Data.
Engineering Professors Council (2025): Concerns Raised over Physics A-Level Results.
Campaign for Science and Engineering (2025): School Exam Results Analysis 2025.
