More girls chose to take A-level computing this year, despite fewer students taking the subject overall.
The number of girls who took A-level computing increased by 3.5% this year, compared with 2024, meaning girls accounted for 18.6% of computing entrants in 2025.
But the overall number of students choosing to take computing A-levels declined by 2.8% this year, after a number of years of increased interest in the subject – meaning a drop in the number of boys choosing the subject this year.
Ian Thomas, chief operating officer at IT service provider Node4, said: “It is disappointing to see that the number of students studying computing has fallen by 2.8% this year, especially as 93% of mid-market organisations in the UK report they are experiencing an IT skills shortage.”
Thomas highlighted: “It is essential that educational institutions nurture the interest young people naturally have for technology. Today’s students have grown up with technology, with mobile phones and computers readily available, and more often than not, they are the ones called upon to help with IT issues at home.
“However, this passion isn’t converting into chosen career paths. This suggests that there is a disconnect between school curriculums and real-world technological developments, which is failing to engage the younger generations.”
The number of students taking science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects has dropped in general this year. While maths, further maths and physics all saw an increase in candidates taking exams this year, the increases were far smaller than we saw last year.
But the sixth-year increase in the number of girls choosing to take computing at A-level is a positive trend. The number of girls taking A-level computing in the UK has been rising each year, from 1,797 in 2020, to 2,031 in 2021, 2,352 in 2022, 2,765 in 2023, 3,556 in 2024, and now 3,679 in 2025.
I’m excited that young women are seizing their future in greater numbers – especially in areas like AI where diversity is vital to ensure decisions and outcomes are good for everyone. We need this momentum to accelerate Julia Adamson, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT also found the number of women choosing computing at degree level increased this year.
Julia Adamson, BCS executive director for education and public benefit, said: “I’m excited that young women are seizing their future in greater numbers – especially in areas like AI [artificial intelligence] where diversity is vital to ensure decisions and outcomes are good for everyone. We need this momentum to accelerate.”
Grade attainment for A-level computing rose again this year, with girls – as usual – achieving higher grades than boys. Some 7.1% of female candidates achieved A* in the subject, compared with 5.7% of male candidates.
Girls performed better than boys at every grade attainment level: 72.4% of female students achieved at least a C grade, compared with 69.7% of male students; 52% of female students achieved at least a B grade, while only 48.1% of male students achieved at least a B; and 28% of female students achieved at least an A grade, compared with 24.5% of male students.
Overall, 70.2% of students who took the computing exam achieved at least a C grade, 48.9% achieved at least a B grade, and slightly more than a quarter achieved at least an A, showing an increase in attainment of higher grades this year when compared with last year.
While those taking exams performed well, many have shown concern over the slowing uptake of STEM subjects this year, as well as the drop in A-level computing candidates, especially in the wake of rapidly developing technology such as AI, which requires an increasing number of skilled and diverse workers to ensure this technology serves everyone.
Heather Dawe, chief data scientist, UK, and head of responsible AI at digital transformation company, UST, said: “It’s promising to see the number of young women taking A-level computing increase year-on-year, reflecting real progress in closing the gender gap through inclusive education and early STEM programmes.
“More women in tech will bring a diversity of perspectives that drive innovation and result in fairer, more inclusive digital technologies for everyone. At the same time, the overall decline in candidates highlights the need for further action to ensure everyone can benefit from and contribute to the digital age.
“Schools, governments and industry alike need to examine the latest data to identify the gaps and take the necessary steps to strengthen the UK’s tech ecosystem as a whole.”
Today, Apple announcedits new budget MacBook. At $599, it looks seriously impressive. While I haven’t tested its performance, battery life, or display just yet, it may end up being hard to beat at that price based on some of the specs alone.
But that doesn’t mean the competition isn’t there. I want to recommend a couple of Windows laptops deals that offer various advantages over the MacBook Neo, showing where the Neo has both strengths and weaknesses.
First, check out this Asus Vivobook 14, a laptop I’ve been happy to recommend as a budget computer for the past year. In many ways, this is the Windows version of a laptop like the MacBook Neo. It uses a highly-efficient ARM chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X, meaning it gets great battery life and performs admirably in daily tasks. It’s not quite as thin or light as the MacBook Neo, but it’s fairly portable for a laptop at this price.
Asus
Vivobook 14 (X1407QA)
Unlike the MacBook Neo, the Vivobook 14 comes with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. That’s twice what you get in the MacBook Neo’s starting configuration. Right now, this configuration of the Vivobook 14 is on sale for $539. That’s a killer deal for those specs. It even comes with a healthier mix of ports, including HDMI, two USB-A, one USB-C, and a headphone jack. That also means it can support two external displays unlike the MacBook Neo, which can only handle just one.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not at all saying the Vivobook 14 is a slam dunk over the MacBook Neo. Based on specs alone, I know the Vivobook 14 is a serious step down when it comes to the display. It’s less sharp, stretched across a larger screen, and the color performance isn’t so good. The Vivobook 14 maxes out at 280 nits, whereas Apple says the MacBook Neo can go all the way up to 500 nits. I have a hunch that the MacBook Neo will deliver a much better display in just about every regard.
There’s also the touchpad. It’s a little clunky to use, which is typical of budget Windows laptops. This is just a guess—but the touchpad on the MacBook Neo will likely feel smoother. It’s a mechanical trackpad (unlike the MacBook Air’s haptic feedback trackpad), but Apple has almost never made a bad trackpad.
If you’re not convinced by the Asus Vivobook 14, I’d also recommend the HP OmniBook 5, which is currently on sale for $500 and uses the same Snapdragon X chip. While it only has 256 GB of storage, it has a much better screen than the Vivobook 14, using an OLED display. It’s not any brighter than the Vivobook 14, but it gives you far better color performance and contrast. It’s also just 0.50 inches thick, matching the MacBook Neo exactly in portability.
Ugreen Revodok Pro 211 Docking Station for $64: Most laptop docking stations are bulky gadgets that often require a power source, but this one from Ugreen straddles the line between dock and hub. It has a small, braided cable running to a relatively large aluminum block. It’s a bit hefty but still compact, and it packs a lot of extra power. It has three USB ports (one USB-C and two USB-A) that each reached up to 900 MB/s of data-transfer speeds in my testing. That was enough to move large amounts of 4K video footage in minutes. The only problem is that using dual monitors on a Mac is limited to only mirroring.
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Hyper HyperDrive Next Dual 4K Video Dock for $150: This one also straddles the line between dock and USB hub. Many mobile docks lack proper Mac support, only allowing for mirroring instead of full extension. The HyperDrive Next Dual 4K fixes that problem, though, making it a great option for MacBooks (though it won’t magically give an old MacBook Air dual-monitor support). Unfortunately, you’ll be paying handsomely for that capability, as this one is more expensive than the other options. The other problem is that although this dock has two HDMI ports that can support 4K, though only one will be at 60 Hz and the other will be stuck at 30 Hz. So, if you plan to use it with multiple displays, you’ll need to drop the resolution 1440p or 1080p on one of them. I also tested this Targus model, which is made by the same company, which gets you two 4K displays at 60 Hz but not on Mac.
Kensington Triple Video Mobile Dock.
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Anker USB-C Hub 5-in-1 for $20: This Anker USB hub is the one I carry in my camera bag everywhere. It plugs into the USB-C port on your laptop and provides every connection you’d need to offload photos or videos from camera gear. In our testing, the USB 3.0 ports reached transfer speeds over 400 MB/s, which isn’t quite as fast as some USB hubs on this list, but it’s solid for a sub-$50 device. Similarly, the SD card reader reached speeds of 80 MB/s for reading and writing, which isn’t the fastest SD cards can get, but adequate for moving files back and forth.—Eric Ravenscraft
Kensington Triple Video Mobile Dock for $83: Another mobile dock meant to provide additional external support, this one from Kensington can technically power up to three 1080p displays at 60 Hz using the two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort. It’s a lot of ports in a relatively small package, though the basic plastic case isn’t exactly inspiring.
Global oil andgas prices have skyrocketed following the US attack on Iran last weekend. But another key global supply chain is also at risk, one that may directly impact American farmers who have already been squeezed for months by tariff wars. The conflict in the Middle East is choking global supplies of fertilizer right before the crucial spring planting season.
“This literally could not be happening at a worse time,” says Josh Linville, the vice president of fertilizer at financial services company StoneX.
The global fertilizer market focuses on three main macronutrients: phosphates, nitrogen, and potash. All of them are produced in different ways, with different countries leading in exports. Farmers consider a variety of factors, including crop type and soil conditions, when deciding which of these types of fertilizer to apply to their fields.
Potash and phosphates are both mined from different kinds of natural deposits; nitrogen fertilizers, by contrast, are produced with natural gas. QatarLNG, a subsidiary of Qatar Energy, a state-run oil and gas company, said on Monday that it would halt production following drone strikes on some of its facilities. This effectively took nearly a fifth of the world’s natural gas supply offline, causing gas prices in Europe to spike.
That shutdown puts supplies of urea, a popular type of nitrogen fertilizer, particularly at risk. On Tuesday, Qatar Energy said that it would also stop production of downstream products, including urea. Qatar was the second-largest exporter of urea in 2024. (Iran was the third-largest; it’s also a key exporter of ammonia, another type of nitrogen fertilizer.) Prices on urea sold in the US out of New Orleans, a key commodity port, were up nearly 15 percent on Monday compared to prices last week, according to data provided by Linville to WIRED. The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz is also preventing other countries in the region from exporting nitrogen products.
“When we look at ammonia, we’re looking at almost 30 percent of global production being either involved or at risk in this conflict,” says Veronica Nigh, a senior economist at the Fertilizer Institute, a US-based industry advocacy organization. “It gets worse when we think about urea. Urea is almost 50 percent.”
Other types of fertilizer are also at risk. Saudi Arabia, Nigh says, supplies about 40 percent of all US phosphate imports; taking them out of the equation for more than a few days could create “a really challenging situation” for the US. Other countries in the region, including Jordan, Egypt, and Israel, also play a big role in these markets.
“We are already hearing reports that some of those Persian Gulf manufacturers are shutting down production, because they’re saying, ‘I have a finite amount of storage for my supply,’” Linville says. “‘Once I reach the top of it, I can’t do anything else. So I’m going to shut down my production in order to make sure I don’t go over above that.’”
Conflict in the strait has intensified in the early part of this week, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have reportedly threatened any ship passing through the strait. Traffic has slowed to a crawl. The Trump administration announced initiatives on Tuesday meant to protect oil tankers traveling through the strait, including providing a naval escort. Even if those initiatives succeed—which the shipping industry has expressed doubt about—much of the initial energy will probably go toward shepherding oil and gas assets out of the region.
“Fertilizer is not going to be the most valuable thing that’s gonna transit the strait,” says Nigh.
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