Physics network to continue its school support with £4.3m grant

The Stimulating Physics Network (SPN) is to continue offering free support to schools after receiving a £4.3 million government investment.

The SPN is run by the Institute of Physics (IoP) and works with schools where low numbers of students are going on to study A level physics. It offers free support to teachers and also runs science activities aimed at engaging children.

As well as continuing the work of the SPN, the funding is also to be used to launch a pilot project – entitled Improving Gender Balance – to investigate the factors that discourage girls from studying A level physics.

The SPN was originally launched in 2009 and since 2012 has given personalised mentoring for 400 new physics teachers every year as well as 80,000 hours of CPD for all teachers of physics. This includes a number of free four-day summer schools for teachers without a specialist backgrounds in physics. The SPN, which has a team of 35 teaching and learning coaches, has also run free physics engagement activities for more than 60,000 children.