An open letter from UK physics teachers opposing budget cuts proposed by the Government has so far received more than 100 signatures.
The Royal Astronomical Society has been encouraging teachers to put their names to the letter in response to plans outlined by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) last month. These indicated that the budget for particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics together would drop by around 30%. Project groups were also asked to plan for budget reductions of up to 60%.
To sign the letter to Lord Vallance, Minister of State for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear, published in full below, click: Open letter to Lord Vallance from UK physics teachers – Fill in form.
Lord Vallance of Balham KCB
Minister of State for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear
Department of Science, Innovation and Technology
Dear Lord Vallance,
Cuts to funding for astronomy and space science
We are writing to you as physics teachers in secondary schools and sixth form colleges, to express our grave concern at the cuts to funding for astronomy and space science, and particle and nuclear physics, proposed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
As you know, these amount to 30% overall, and project groups have been asked to plan for budget reductions of up to 60%. We urge you to take prompt action to reverse these cuts, the scale of which are without precedent in modern times.
For at least two decades, successive Governments have recognised and said publicly that science is vital for the UK economy, and that there is a pressing need to increase the number of young people choosing to study physics in particular, and to take up roles in careers in science and engineering. This message has been heard by students and many more are now considering careers in the STEM sector.
As teachers, we play a central part in delivering that ambition. We see every day how the universe around us has a unique power to inspire learners to pursue careers in science, and how asking fundamental questions on the origin and fate of the cosmos, or whether we are alone in the universe, brings a sense of wonder to the classroom.
Young people can see that UK researchers are a core part of the effort to understand the cosmos. Numerous role models, from postgraduates to professors, working on some of the most exciting projects in the world, convince our school students that they too can take up roles in astronomy and space science. We do of course understand that most following that route will go on to work in industry or the wider economy, but they take their unique skill set and innovation with them. This enriches organisations in the public, private and third sector as a result.
Implementing these cuts will almost certainly lead to the catastrophic loss of a generation of STEM students, postdoctoral researchers and established scientists. It will cause irreparable harm to astronomy as a whole, and will send the message to our students that the UK is no longer a country that values inspirational science. It will in time also have a deleterious effect on the economy more widely.
In the face of this threat to a scientific discipline of such enormous value to our students, and to us as teachers, can we ask you to intervene to save astronomy and space science?
Yours sincerely,
| Name | Affiliation/Institution |
| Rachael Dixon | Dunfermline High School |
| Drew Burrett | Stewarton Academy/IOP Scotland Physics Coach |
| Rachael McNeil | Forres Academy |
| Sarah Jakoby | Castlehead High School |
| Elizabeth MacRae | Gairloch High School |
| Lynn Collins | Portlethen Academy, Aberdeenshire Council |
| Keith Black | Retired |
| Holly Farnham | Selkirk High School |
| Sibyl Kadel | Moffat Academy |
| Andrew Raistrick | Pittville School |
| Dr. Anna-Maria van Veggel | Mearns Castle High School, Newton Mearns |
| Richard Duffy-Turner | Pittville School |
| Parvin Sharma | Pittville School |
| Gordon Doig | Ellon Academy, Aberdeenshire |
| Jill Blakey | Northampton Academy |
| Iain Garioch | St Margaret's School for Girls |
| Moses La Trobe-Bateman | Sackville School East Grinstead |
| Rachael Curtis | |
| Andrew Donaldson | Jordanhill School, Glasgow |
| Mark Crookes | Mallaig High School |
| Jonathan | North Lanarkshire Council |
| Jennie Hargreaves CPhys, FInstP | |
| Alison Farooq-Smith | Holy Rood RC High School |
| Matthew Burke | Lochaber Highschool |
| Richard Ford | Bearsden Academy |
| Dr Tim Hely | James Gillespies High School |
| Gregor Malcolm | Boroughmuir High School |
| Walid Ben-Mansour | |
| Andrew Hanson | |
| David Matkin | The Ferrer's School Northamptonshire |
| Goutham Indukuri | University of Aberdeen |
| Dr. Ryan Milligan | Queen's University Belfast |
| Cailum Finnegan | |
| Dr James Perkins | Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School & Worshipful company of Armourers & Brasiers |
| John Dodgson | |
| Denis Hirst | Ayr Academy |
| Frank Skelly | City of Edinburgh Council |
| Arabi Karteepan | Croydon High School for Girls |
| Mr James Hunt | Latyner Upper School |
| Suzanne Walton | Knights Templar school |
| Wendy Scott | |
| Natalie Bogod | |
| Gary Williams | |
| Jamie Sheather | Pittville School |
| Dr Thomas North | Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form, Norwich |
| Sinead Ni Riain | IOP |
| Helen Hare | IOP |
| Denise Dowdell-Stent | Private Tutor |
| Karl Swift | Ormiston Bushfield Academy |
| Kevin Walsh | Westminster School & RAS |
| Kimbal O’Neil | Teacher of Physics |
| Charles Ullathorne | |
| Stanton Wertjes | Oasis Academy South Bank |
| Jason Wye | Varndean Sixth Form College |
| David Beauchamp | Retired |
| Victoria Dean | |
| Alex Calverley | Surbiton High School |
| Laurence Mansfield | IOP |
| Sian Oo | South Lanarkshire Council |
| Dr Christopher Gallagher | Hampton School |
| Karen Dalton | A school in Oxfordshire |
| Charles Currie | d’Overbroeck’s |
| John Herbert Thomson | William Hulme's Academy and The Manchester Grammar School (retired) |
| Helen Offord | The Marlborough School |
| Victoria Ridley | Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School |
| Daniel Wilde | Stonyhurst International School Penang |
| Ben Harrison | English Martyrs Catholic School |
| Jak Heslop | UTC South Durham |
| James Johnson | Ferryhill School |
| Stephen Brain | UTC South Durham |
| Ann Sellers | |
| Robert Peacock | Tanfield School |
| Elizabeth Dunn | English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College |
| Stephanie Bartle | Framwellgate School Durham |
| Charlotte Thompson | King James 1 Academy |
| Philip Gowland | Consett Academy |
| Valerie Cornish | Endeavour Academy, Peterlee (Alternative Provision for students with SEMH) |
| Abigail Hope | Stokesley School & Sixth Form College |
| Tom Lisseter | Park View School |
| Conor Higgins | Park View School - Chester-Le-Street |
| Taylor Dawson | |
| Jane Dixon | Hermitage Academy |
| Daniel Naughton | Park View Learning |
| Alexander Coulson | Park View School |
| Emily Perrin | Park View School |
| Josh Penny | Hermitage Academy |
| Vicky Smith | UTC South Durham |
| Sophie Nicholson | Hermitage Academy |
| Rosie Bailey | Park View School |
| Lewis Edwards | Park View sixth form |
| Amy Brown | Park View School |
| Emily | |
| Elizabeth Batey | Park View School |
| Eleanor Cockburn | Park View School - Chester-Le-Street |
| Chris Callow | Physics Teacher |
| John Engledew | Retired |
| Dr Christopher Crowe | Harrow School |
| Iain Davidson | Belmont Community School |
| Phil Dennis | Whickham School |
| William Hastings | Park View School |
| Harry Thompson | Park View School |
| Sarah Manning | English Martyrs School and Sixth Form |
| Brian Wardle | |
| Jon Clayson | Ponteland High School |
| Matthew Perrins | Westminster School |
Media contacts
Sam Tonkin
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 700
Dr Robert Massey
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 699
Notes for editors
About the Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science.
The RAS organises scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognises outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4,000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.
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