This was the question being asked week after exams watchdog Ofqual published figures showing the provisional number of GCSE and A level entries for the summer 2025 exam series.
The figures reveal declines at GCSE and/or A level for key subjects including English literature, history, biology, French, German, computing, art and design, RE, and drama.
There is a clear crossover between subjects which have seen a decline in exam entries and those which have consistently underrecruited in initial teacher training over the past few years, raising speculation as to whether the two are linked.
Overall GCSE entries are down by 0.6% year-on-year, but within this figure there are decreases in entries for 8 out of 15 Ebacc subjects, including falls in:
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