A-level results 2019: drop in proportion of top grades – live

Spanish becomes most popular foreign language at A-level, overtaking French for first timeShare your reaction and experiences 3.00pm BST That’s it for another action-packed day of A-level results reporting and analysis from us at the Guardian. Our top lines for today have been: 2.35pm BST In the Guardian data team’s final missive for the day, Pamela Duncan reports that the number of English A-level students taking computing hit 10,000 this year, with the proportion of female students rising to 13%. Given, this is still a low figure, but marks some progress considering that just 6.9% of those taking computing in 2011 were girls.Our research has found a lack of formal security eduction is contributing to the growing skills gap. Just 24% of respondents in our DevSecOps global skills survey were required to complete cybersecurity courses as part of their tertiary education, forcing many to learn on the job. Getting kids interested and succeeding Stem at the high school level is a big step in the right direction. For example, courses that teach secure coding and security by design will help elevate these skill sets and improve overall security of the software we use. Furthermore, cybersecurity pays really rather well. There are great initiatives out there allowing girls to dip their toe into areas such as coding, with Code Girls: First being a prime example. These help demystify areas that girls have had very little exposure to. We need to take this model into the classroom, but this is as much about educating teachers as it is students. Some are unconsciously biased about girls and Stem. The sooner we can make these changes, the sooner we can have more equality, diversity and balance in the world of technology. Continue reading…
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