����Vlog

The rising use of AI could make students think they no longer need to learn key computing skills such as coding, an exam board leader has warned.

Official figures show a fall in the proportion of entries for GCSE computing - annual GCSE results were published yesterday - and the emergence of AI has been given as a potential reason for the decline.

Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) data shows that computing remains popular with 85,096 entries, down 7.1 per cent from 91,619 in 2025.

Myles McGinley, managing director of Cambridge OCR, suggested AI means that computing skills, far from being rendered irrelevant, are still important to learn.

AI’s impact on appeal of coding

McGinley said: “Despite a decline from a historic high, computer science remains a very popular GCSE.

“I think there could be a number of different reasons. This is speculation, but the emergence of AI could be leading to students thinking they don’t need to learn how to code - but I would say maybe that’s something that would be up for debate.”

He added that computer science is “more important than ever” in the age of AI, and suggested that it will not be able to replace understanding of software and the technology needed to solve “real-world” problems.

Julia Adamson, executive director of education at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, described the view that AI can do everything safely without oversight as a “myth” and agreed that computing qualifications are becoming ever more important.

Ms Adamson added: “AI is powerful but requires skilled people who can design and secure the systems behind it. If anything, the growth of AI increases the need for people with a strong grounding in computing and digital technology.”

She also said: “Computing education has never been just about learning a programming language; it’s about developing computational thinking, problem solving skills and understanding how digital systems work.”

Designing and securing systems behind AI

Ofqual chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham stressed that many students receiving their results on Thursday made their choices in 2024, when ChatGPT was “a relatively new phenomenon”.

He told the Press Association: “I think young people were just beginning to realise what it was and what it could do.

“GCSE computing, as it is at the moment, is quite coding-heavy. It might have been the case that young people thought I won’t need to do this coding in quite the same way in the future, so maybe I don’t need to do computing GCSE.”

Sir Ian said that GCSE computing comprises more than just coding and that it is “difficult to think of subjects that could be more important” just now.

Business, statistics and PE on the rise

The JCQ’s data, which covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, also shows GCSE business studies continues to prove popular with students, with almost 150,000 entries this summer, up 7.8 per cent; entries have increased by about 40 per cent in the past five years.

Mr McGinley said an interest among students in running their own businesses may be driving the rise.

He said: “This looks like an increasingly entrepreneurial generation, fascinated by how business works. The founders of some of the next great unicorn businesses may well be among those achieving GCSEs in business studies today.”

GCSE statistics has seen a leap in popularity, with entries up 11.2 per cent on last year to 38,770, while PE had 92,191 entries this summer, compared with 89,584 in 2025.

Vicci Wells, assistant director of children and young people at the Youth Sport Trust, said PE “offers something different” for students, providing the opportunity to simultaneously “learn through doing” while acquiring important knowledge.

Ms Wells suggested that greater visibility of sport and improved understanding of the importance of movement to overall health may be factors in PE’s popularity.

She added that “young people can increasingly see the breadth of opportunities that exist across physical education, sport and activity, from coaching and teaching to sports science, physiotherapy, psychology, nutrition, performance analysis and many others”.

��