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Unprecedented numbers opt for post-16 study after taking 'dumbed down' 21st century course, research reveals.
Pupils studying a much-maligned GCSE accused of "dumbing down" science are choosing to take the subject in record numbers post-16, according to new research.
Three times as many pupils who did the 21st century science course went on to study science at AS-level compared with those who followed other science GCSEs, figures suggest.
There was an increase of more than 30 per cent in AS-level science students who had followed the 21st century course.
The findings follow sustained criticism of the programme, which was introduced in 2006 in an attempt to make the subject more appealing. It covers new topics such as global warming, genetically modified crops and the cloning of stem cells.
The changes were intended to help to make the subject more relevant to pupils and to boost numbers taking sciences at...