An international league table today revealed that science standards in primary schools in England are slipping.

Out of 50 countries, England has dropped from 7th to 15th in tests of 10 year olds around the world. The results of 14 year olds have fallen also, with England 9th in the league tables.

Reasons cited for the decline have included suggestions of poor teaching, and the scrapping of the national curriculum tests, and have consequently left the Department of Education citing the slipping of standards a “major concern”.

Whilst it has been accepted that there is indeed a marked correlation between standards in science and the stopping of science testing at 11, many are debating the necessity of a return.