31/08/07 European Research Area
CaSE today submitted its response to the consultation on the European Research Area. CaSE argued that contrary to what is suggested in the consultation, British university faculties are highly international in character and successfully draw on talent from around the world with transparent competition for recruitment. CaSE expressed concern if this is not true throughout Europe. On the European Institute of Technology, CaSE argued that more could be achieved by using the finite resources of European taxpayers to invest in existing excellence rather than in creating a new bureaucracy and institution few people believe will address the challenges of research and innovation in Europe.

29/08/07 Hilary Leevers attended Nature Network London Drinks

23/08/07 GCSE results
CaSE congratulates GCSE students but regrets that so few have the opportunity to study separate sciences taught by specialist teachers. CaSE was delighted at the good news in mathematics with entries to additional mathematics increasing a whopping 198% to almost 10 000 and statistics increasing 21% to almost 83 000. CaSE was also cautiously optimistic at the 2-3000 increase in entries into separate science GCSEs, now taken by approximately 10% of science students. CaSE's Acting Director, Dr Hilary Leevers, commented: “The tide may have turned for mathematics and the sciences, but do not forget that it was out a long way – there is no room for complacency." She added “It is a scandal that most students do not have the opportunity to take separate physics, chemistry, and biology GCSEs. It is unsurprising that just 10% of students take separate sciences given that just 26% of mainstream schools offer them (compared with 58% of science specialist schools, 66% of grammar schools and 72% of independent schools).”

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20/08/07 School Science
CaSE is keeping the pressure on to improve the teaching of science in our schools. Dr Hilary Leevers, Acting Director of CaSE, was concerned to hear the suggestion that the fight for science had been won by the increase in research funding over the last decade. Writing in Innovation Policy Review, she argued that the situation with secondary school science teaching was "on the brink of a crisis as great as that in the late 1980s, but one which won't be solved by simply increasing funding."

16/08/07 A Level Results
CaSE was delighted to congratulate the increasing numbers of A level mathematics, physics, and chemistry students who received their results today, with physics up 100 and chemistry up 200 since last year. Furthermore, these rises look set to continue as there were also increases at AS level. Unfortunately, the number of biology students had dropped by 300, but increasing AS level numbers suggest that this decline will not continue. CaSE particularly celebrated the combined increase of 4700 students in mathematics and further mathematics. Dr Hilary Leevers, Acting Director of CaSE, commented that “In order to sustain increasing student interest in these subjects, we must boost the numbers of children taking separate science GCSEs, and provide them with teachers who are qualified in the subjects that they are teaching, then we can expect more of them to go on to study and do well at A level.

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10/08/07 CaSE Founder Concerned at Research Funding
Denis Noble, founder member of CaSE (then known as Save British Science) and current member of the Executive Committee is featured in the Times Higher Education Supplement expressing concern over the research councils’ increasing interest in funding work based upon its economic value.

07/08/07 Scottish Science Results
CaSE was pleased to see the high proportion of Scottish school students that had chosen to study physics and chemistry, as they received their results today. Dr Hilary Leevers, Acting Director of CaSE, commented that “In Scotland, teachers can only teach biology, physics and chemistry if they are qualified in those subjects. And in Scotland the number of students studying physics and chemistry is much closer to the numbers studying biology, both up to and after 16 years of age. This shows the importance of having specialist physics and chemistry teachers in encouraging students to continue with those subjects.”