A national study has found that a quarter of secondary schools have no specialist physics teachers and only a relatively small number choose to pursue physics as a degree – some 3,000 physics undergraduates compared with 15,000 law students.

Now a nuclear physicist from Southsea says there is real concern for the future – and it will affect us all.

'If atomic or quantum theory weren't developed 100 years ago I wouldn't be talking to you on a mobile phone,' explains Professor Jim Al-Khalili.

'Everything we see around us that has made our lives easier in the past 100 years almost always goes back to discoveries in physics. Developing physicists has an economic and social benefit to us all.'

The father-of-two, of Pelham Road, is a respected figure in his field. He's a Fellow of the Institute of Physics who was voted one of 21 Faces of UK Science in 2004 and was given an OBE earlier this year for his services to physics.

He's a popular author on subjects such as black holes and a broadcaster on TV and radio.

He believes the problem with physics starts at school.
'There's definitely a lack of physics teachers, says Prof Al-Khalili. 'It's not that modern kids aren't interested in physics – it's a lack of people to inspire them.

'There are fewer teachers who teach physics that have a specialist knowledge of the subject. That's not to say they're not excellent teachers, but if they can't feed the children's natural curiosity then there's a problem.'

Research by Buckinghamshire University earlier this year found a quarter of schools have no specialist physics teachers.
And the problem is getting worse. Applications to physics teacher training courses have fallen dramatically.
Retiring physics teachers now outnumber new recruits by more than a quarter.

Prof Al-Khalili knows from personal experience how important school teachers are to inspire the next generation of physicists.

Born in Iraq, his interest in science came from having a good teacher. He says: 'When I was 13 in Iraq I performed very well in a class test.
It wasn't a particularly important one but I remember getting over 90 per cent and none of my classmates did as well.

'The teacher had me up in front of the class as a bit of a swot and I wanted to hide at the time. But I thought "physics, I'm quite good at it".'

If recruiting more physics graduates as secondary school teachers is key then what is the solution? An obvious answer could be to pay the teachers more.

But the University of Surrey professor has his doubts it would work: 'The problem with that is if physics and maths teachers are on higher grades then they're the ones who will be promoted and do more admin roles as heads of department. They're very quickly moved away from the coal face.'

Prof Al-Khalili believes giving physics graduates experience of teaching is far more effective and praised the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme.

The scheme sees science, maths, technology and engineering undergraduates spend a term teaching in a school, giving them experience of the profession while providing school teachers with knowledgeable and enthusiastic assistants.

The scheme has grown from four departments in three universities in 2002/03 to 110 departments in 42 universities now.
Prof Al-Khalili believes more physics departments should join the scheme.

He says: 'You've got to make physics more attractive as a profession.'
And the undergraduate scheme isn't the only hint of a brighter future. The number of entries for A-level physics rose this year by 2.3 per cent following a long-term decline.
'There are shoots of recovery there,' he says.

'Students realise that some easier A-levels like media studies do not help as much as harder A-levels like physics to get a place at university and get a good job. Physics is at risk if there are not enough students who want to study the subject. But I think this is temporary.'