Setting the record straight on UK chemistry higher education

Chemistry is a strategically vital subject facing structural pressures that need serious attention from universities, funders and governments across the UK. While recent commentary in Nature Reviews Chemistry draws attention to these pressures, unfortunate misinterpreted evidence and unsupported claims paint a misleading picture of chemistry today.

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s own mapping shows that the UK has 61 universities providing active undergraduate chemistry courses: 50 in England, 2 in Northern Ireland, 7 in Scotland and 2 in Wales. Since 2022/23, 11 universities have stopped providing chemistry undergraduate courses, 9 in England and 2 in Wales. This is a serious concern, and one we continue to monitor closely through our work on shaping the future of chemistry in higher education.

At the same time, it is important not to overstate or mischaracterise the status of individual institutions. There is a difference between confirmed course withdrawals, proposed changes, consultations, decisions not to close, and cases where no formal decision has been announced. A clear distinction between these categories is essential if we are to have a constructive public discussion about the future of chemistry provision. Accurate descriptions and mapping are also crucial, because poor visualisations and/or loose descriptors can wrongly suggest course closures, with negative impacts for the universities concerned.

We do not believe the evidence supports a narrative that chemistry provision is shrinking because the discipline lacks value or because graduates face weak prospects. Chemistry graduates have good employment prospects and a chemistry degree is a passport to many and varied careers, showcased on  A Future in Chemistry | RSC Education. Chemistry higher education is central to achieving the UK Government's Industrial Strategy ambitions and delivering the jobs growth potential of the chemical sciences sector, which projections suggest will outstrip the rest of the UK labour market by 30% by 2032. 

The evidence points instead to a more serious strategic problem: the demand for chemistry skills and workforce are projected to grow, yet chemistry courses and departments are under pressure due to broader financial sustainability issues. Government support for higher cost practical courses (e.g. medicine, chemistry, physics) has not kept pace with inflation. The UK should be expanding access to chemistry capability, not allowing it to narrow.

Student-number trends also need describing fully. While the total number of undergraduates studying chemistry in all years fell between 2019/20 and 2023/4, there was a slight uptick in 2024/5. Also, the number of undergraduate entrants in chemistry has risen since 2022/23, driven by increases in students from the UK nations. 

International taught postgraduate numbers also need a longer timeframe. While taught postgraduate entrants fell from 1,230 in 2023/24 to 1,095 in 2024/25, this followed a much larger increase from 550 in 2019/20. Recent changes in non-UK entrants are likely to reflect a range of factors, including immigration-policy changes and wider geopolitical conditions affecting the attractiveness of the UK as a study destination.

We also urge care in the use of finance data over a decade old. Chemistry is a practical subject, and the financial challenge of delivering high-quality practical education is significant. But older evidence on departmental finances should not be presented as though it directly describes the current UK-wide position without proper caveats. Funding mechanisms have changed, and higher education funding and fee arrangements differ across the UK’s devolved systems.

None of this means the pressures on chemistry higher education should be downplayed. The withdrawal of undergraduate chemistry provision from any part of the UK reduces student choice, weakens regional access to chemistry education, and risks damaging the pipeline of skills needed by industry, research, public services and emerging sectors of the economy.

The concern is not only about the number of chemistry courses available today. It is about whether the UK is maintaining and developing the skills, infrastructure, research capability and institutional capacity needed to support future growth, innovation and resilience. Strong pathways from education and research into innovation, scale-up and commercialisation depend on a healthy chemistry skills pipeline. If that pipeline narrows, the effects will be felt across the economy.

Chemistry is fundamental to the world we live in. It underpins the products, technologies and services we rely on every day, supports innovation across industries, and helps address some of the most pressing challenges facing society – from tackling pollution and achieving net zero to improving health, strengthening supply chains and supporting national resilience.

But because chemistry does not sit neatly within a single sector, its contribution can sometimes be overlooked. It is a capability woven throughout the economy, enabling progress in life sciences, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, defence, environmental protection and many other areas of national importance. That makes it essential that public discussion about the future of chemistry education is based on accurate evidence and careful interpretation.

The RSC will continue to work with universities, policymakers, employers and the wider chemistry community to protect access to high-quality chemistry education, strengthen the evidence base, and make the case for long-term investment in the skills, infrastructure, research environment and supply chains the UK needs.

This is a moment of opportunity as well as risk. With coordinated support across skills, research, infrastructure and innovation, the UK can strengthen its chemistry capability and unlock greater value for local, devolved and national economies. But that will require recognising chemistry for what it is: a fundamental driver of growth, resilience, technological leadership and opportunity.