Ms Fiona Longmuir:

That is absolutely right. We have to start with primary school. Research has shown that students start to be influenced about what kinds of subjects they can take from the time they are about seven. If you are going into a group of transition year students and asking if they have ever thought about doing physics, you are way too late. The choice is made; so many people have already dropped off by that point. It is vital that we engage with primary schools. In terms of the curriculum, it is not necessarily that in primary schools they have to name, "I am doing physics" and "I am using these concepts". At that age, it is about sparking wonder and encouraging curiosity. That is another area in which whole-school equity plans could be really useful. The purpose of our work is not to jam everyone into doing physics, but it is to make sure everybody who would like to do physics has the opportunity. That is where the whole school comes in. It is about making sure every single student in a school has the opportunity to follow the path right for them, whether that is physics or not. We hope some of them will choose physics but that is not the core of our work.