Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)

We continue to support subjects in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Our support in this area has taken several forms:

National HE STEM Programme

The National HE STEM Programme ran from August 2009 to July 2012. It aimed to contribute to the development of a national higher education (HE) STEM sector, and increase and enhance employees with knowledge and skills in these areas.

We provided £20 million of funding. HEFCW provided a further £1 million.

The University of Birmingham hosted the programme, but on a ‘hub and spoke’ model with the support of many other organisations.

The programme engaged the following professional bodies: The Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Academy of Engineering, Institute of Maths and its applications and the Institute of Physics.

At the same time, the Universities of Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester Metropolitan, Southampton and Swansea acted as points of focus for regional activities to engage local workforces in HE learning.

The programme also addressed the undergraduate student experience in the STEM disciplines. It helped students develop the skills required by employers, gave young people experience of STEM disciplines, and sought to widen participation in these subjects among school students.

We have now commissioned an independent evaluation of the programme, and will publish a report towards the end of 2012.

This will seek to establish:

the overall effectiveness of the programme
the ways in which it has impacted on policy, process and activity within higher education institutions (HEIs) and the broader STEM community
the sustainability of its outcomes
the effectiveness of the governance and management of the programme at local and national levels including the oversight of the funders.

More students to study STEM subjects

In April 2010, we invited universities and colleges to shift the balance of their teaching resource from 2010-11 towards vulnerable subjects in STEM and modern foreign languages.

This invitation was in part a response to the increasing demand for STEM subjects from prospective students.

More on this initiative and the number of student places that have moved

High-cost and vulnerable laboratory-based subjects

In November 2006, we announced that we would also provide additional funding for three years to support those subjects that were very high cost, strategically important to the economy and society, but vulnerable due to low student demand.

This funding began in 2007-08 and supports chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, and mineral, metallurgy and materials engineering. It helps to maintain provision in these subjects in universities and colleges while demand from students grows.

More about the allocation of these funds
Our announcement of recurrent grants for 2009-10 confirmed that this additional funding would be made permanent as a targeted allocation.

Earlier activity

These various strands of our activity in this area, have developed from earlier funding activity.

Working with professional bodies and other key partners, our initial focused on pilot projects designed to raise demand and widen participation in chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics.

We built on the successful elements of these projects, integrating the work into the National HE STEM Programme.