The number of undergraduates studying maths, physics, chemistry and engineering is on the increase after years of decline, thanks to an injection of £350 million of government money.

Co-ordinated action by universities, schools, learned societies and the Government to boost interest in science-based study is beginning to pay off, research from the Higher Education Funding Council for England suggests.

The number of young people entering English universities to study mathematics this year has risen 8.1 per cent from 2007-08. Chemistry numbers were up 4.4 per cent, and physics 3.3 per cent.

There have been equally impressive rises in A-level entrants for science subjects. Mathematics A-level entries rose by 15.7 per cent between 2005-06 and 2007-08, while further maths was up by 29.5 per cent. Entries for chemistry were up by 5.3 per cent and physics by 4.4 per cent.

The findings are likely to go some way to assuage growing concerns that Britain is not producing enough scientists to meet the record demand created by issues such as climate change and to take advantage of global economic trends.

The reversal comes after years of decline in university science departments. In the five years to 2006, 38 university science departments closed in England as the number of students taking the subjects at A level tumbled.

David Eastwood, chief executive of the funding council, said he believed that Britain had “turned the corner”. Professor Eastwood said: “As far as science, maths and engineering is concerned, the world does look profoundly different from the world of 2004.”

The funding council is now halfway through a £350 million programme to revitalise strategically important and vulnerable subjects in universities. The scheme, running until 2012, includes £100 million to help to meet the high costs of science provision.

Teaching a science degree can cost up to £25,000 a year per student, but tends to hover around £8,000. This is about double the cost of teaching an arts degree. A total of £15 million has also been spent on pilot projects to get young people interested in these subjects. Support is also being given to vulnerable modern language subjects, although Professor Eastwood admitted that progress in this area would involve a “much slower burn”. There were, however, some positive trends, he added, such as an increase in numbers studying French at A level.

Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said that the numbers were promising but more financial support was still needed. “When we look overseas at the investment in teaching facilities at campuses in the USA, China and India it is extremely sobering. All too often laboratories and equipment at UK universities are uninspiring and inadequate,” he said.

The funding council has now undertaken to conduct an annual review of graduate supply and demand in vulnerable subjects, which will include a measure of graduate salaries and employer demand. The research shows that graduates in modern languages and architecture earn about £28,500 three and a half years after graduation. This is roughly £5,000 a year more than the earnings of a media studies graduate (£21,000). Physics (£25,000) and engineering (£26,000) graduates also enjoy an earnings premium over media studies, but for chemistry graduates (£22,500) the figure is modest.

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