New government plans to publicly provide lists of the school subjects which lead to the best paid jobs are expected to encourage students to take more difficult courses at GCSE level. The move is expected to mean that more pupils will take subjects perceived as more challenging, including mathematics and science, as opposed to so-called ‘soft subjects’ such as media studies.

The information, which will be provided online, will link adult tax records and income levels with their education and career information. It is thought the data will also include vocational qualifications, apprenticeships and higher education; including university level degrees. The Department for Education has stated that the move is part of a ‘commitment to transparency’, but it will likely be seen as further promotion of subjects which are increasingly being considered as ‘core academic disciplines’, and other high-quality vocational courses.

It is thought that data will look at the combinations of subjects taken by pupils and the money that students taking those subjects went on to earn. Information will be averaged out to give a national overview, providing an insight in to the potential options which may provide the best and worst salaries in the future.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) have carried out a similar survey in the past – although the data was gained through market research with graduates. According to the research findings, university graduates who left higher education in 2009 were earning £26,500 on average three and half years later. However, this figure jumped to £41,500 among medicine and dentistry students, £32,000 for students of mathematical sciences and £30,000 for graduates of veterinary science. In contrast, students of the creative arts, mass communications and agricultural topics all earned an average salary of between £21,000 and £23,000.

A similar move by the Government to create a GCSE league table to highlight pupils performing well across a number of academic subjects has also been introduced recently. These league tables are thought to have been the driving force behind the rise in the number of students taking up modern foreign languages, history, geography and the three separate sciences in this year’s exams. In addition, home economics, media studies, drama and leisure and tourism, all of which have been listed among the ‘softer subjects’ in recent years, all number among the ten fastest declining subjects in terms of exam entries.

Many teachers have argued that students should be free to choose the subjects they enjoy studying, and there are concerns over the plans to promote certain subjects over others.

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