The acute shortage of school science and maths teachers, and the low quality of those we have, are the basic problems the UK faces in maintaining its competitiveness in science and technology.

Professor Peter Littlewood, head of physics at Cambridge University, told Electronics Weekly he saw nothing to suggest a lack of enthusiasm on the part of students to learn the subject, but that their teaching was “disastrous”.

“If you go to most schools you won’t have a physics teacher that has a physics degree, how on earth can somebody get a subject across to you if they haven’t got that?” he asked.

“That’s something that is disastrous. But what I don’t see is any lessening of the appetite of students to do physics, it’s just that the system is failing to teach them.”

According to figures quoted by the university, the number of students taking A-level physics has decreased by 38 per cent in the last 15 years, and nearly a third of university physics departments have closed.

Last week’s Budget promised an extra £18m to address the issue with 3,000 new science teachers, and a focus on the distinct disciplines.

Dr Peter Cotgreave, director of the Campaign for Science & Engineering (CaSE), said some measures might force schools to recognise the importance of science, but asked where the 3,000 teachers would come from.

“[Gordon Brown] has to somehow find 3,000 maths, physics and chemistry graduates and persuade them they want to teach,” said Cotgreave.

www.savebritishscience.org.uk