Best Practice

Five steps to unleashing the power of practicals in science lessons

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Science practicals and experiments are on a sharp and worrying decline in the classroom. Senior technician Paul Cook offers five ways teachers can reverse this trend
Hands-off? In 2023, just 26% of year 10 to 11 students were experiencing hands-on practical work at least once a fortnight - Adobe Stock

As educators and scientists, we know the importance of practicals for imparting confidence – not only in handling science equipment but, in many cases, for students’ life-skills too.

Practicals are a wonderful way to keep learners engaged while retaining the real-life impacts of what they read. Yet sadly, under the weight of curriculum content and budget constraints, practicals are currently on the decline.

In 2023, the Royal Society’s Science Education Tracker reported that, for students in years 7 to 9, practical work was a top motivator to learn science, while almost three-quarters of year 7 to 11 students said they wanted to do more practical work in the subject.

However, the Royal Society also warns that in 2023, just 26% of year 10 to 11 students were experiencing hands-on practical work at least once a fortnight – that is a sharp decrease from 44% in 2016

This might partly explain the findings from recent Pearson research (2024) which revealed that in a course of one week, a staggering 98% of science teachers observed students struggling to engage in their learning.

When I started as a science technician more than 20 years ago, secondary school science departments and classrooms looked very different to now.

Back then we had far more established departments, a wide variety of technicians, and an abundance of science specialist teachers. As a result, a wide variety of practicals could take place.

Fast forward to 2025, and associate staff roles are all too often the first to be restructured or not replaced, while a large number of schools have just one science technician, some of whom are very new to the role.

The on-going teacher recruitment and retention crisis doesn’t help matters, since too many schools also lack dedicated physics, biology and chemistry teachers.

Despite the situation, there are simple and positive steps schools can take to ensure practical experiments appear more regularly on science timetables going forward, none of which substantially impact on-going time demands or departmental budgets. Here are five ideas.

 

Step 1: Get talking to the technician

Technicians are a great asset in any school, and a resource you can work with. Share with them your plans for different units, and the outcomes you would like to achieve. The technician will be able to make suggestions for the lesson, explain the way they prepare the experiment and the resources they use, ensuring your time and budget is used correctly.

When workable, invite science technicians to talk to your students too. By assisting with practicals or demonstrations, they can then share their knowledge and expertise, offer a new perspective, and potentially bring a different dynamic into the subject.

 

Step 2: Review your chosen methods

Reviewing all the different practical methods and adaptations you have available to you will also help. Simply using a different method in practicals could save you time and costs, allowing you to fit even more practical experiments into your academic year and in doing so, heighten student engagement.

For instance, microscale practicals provide the same experiment outcomes using a fraction of the usual chemicals or solutions. This is ideal when schools have limited equipment and budgets. They can be safer, too. I would especially recommend microscale for the “disappearing cross” rates of reaction experiment (it produces less sulphur dioxide), as well as in electrolysis experiments, where petri dishes can help reduce solution volumes.

 

Step 3: Reach out for further resources 

A number of brilliant organisations offer time and finances to schools who want to run workshops or sessions. These can support both non-specialist subject teachers and technicians aiming to improve their knowledge and skills.

For physics, the Ogden Trust and Physics Partners are great places to start. The Association for Science Education runs initiatives too, and offers resources, as does the Royal Society. Elsewhere, the Royal Institution has a range of support including interactive science shows that might fit your budget and calendar.

In addition there are grants available if you know where to find them: Grants Online is one of my go-to spots and it offers a newsletter; See Science has a grants page that can be helpful, too.

As I write this, for example, the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company is offering financial support to primary and secondary schools, while the Royal Society continues its scheme to fund partnerships between schools and STEM professionals. There is help out there.

Also, organisations like Pearson offer a range of free support resources to help students develop the knowledge and understanding they need for core practicals in GCSE and A level science.

See further information for links to all the above.

 

Step 4: Collaborate!

For me, the key to unlocking empowering practicals ultimately lies in building connected networks; in linking up not just with your own school technician, but with your fellow science teachers – both in and outside your setting. By collaborating over plans, past experiments, and learning outcomes, we can all collectively gain a great deal of insight.

Strengthen those bonds around your department, MAT or community by hosting “clinic” sessions, perhaps during scheduled department meetings or on INSET days. Take time to come together with fellow teachers and technicians and try out practical activities with different groups. Have a go with a range of experiments yourself. Any work to share outcomes and feedback will help ensure that everyone in your department has more equal knowledge, expertise, and well-honed practice.

 

Step 5: Get competitive

In addition to classroom experiments, scope out competitions. A large number of students will enjoy engaging in hands-on science work through competitive games and tasks, another top way to immerse them in the subject. Spark their curiosity with national competitions like Top of the Bench, a long-running tournament from the Royal Society of Chemistry that encourages team-work and practical skills.

Why not motivate them with the Big Bang competition for UK young scientists and engineers? Or ignite excitement among race fanatics with group engineering activities and more through the IET Foundation?

Alternatively the CREST Awards from the British Science Association offer solo project ideas to students from a price of £1 per learner, though grants and funding opportunities are available (again, see further information for links).

 

Don’t forget demonstrations

Although we ideally all want to run practicals, it is also important to recognise our limits. When a hands-on lesson simply isn’t possible for the whole class, use demonstrations instead – it is certainly better than no activity at all.

Open a lesson with a demo and you are not only engaging your students right from the start but providing visual learning opportunities that will lead to a fuller knowledge of theory and key learning objectives.

 

Final thoughts

The decline in science practicals is an alarming trend that must not continue.

Yet the lack of practicals in science lessons won’t be resolved overnight, nor by a small group of people. Everyone in the sector needs to come together to tackle this. Along the way, as teachers and technicians, we can start to connect with this issue today, to ensure more students gain the skills and passion they will need for success tomorrow.

  • Paul Cook is the senior lead technician at ARK Burlington Danes Academy and lead technician for the Ark Academy network. A multi-award-winning senior/head technician, he has worked in various schools in Essex and London, and for Gatsby as a technician advisor.

 

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