PUPILS SUBJECT PREFERENCES AT KEY-STAGE-3 IN SOUTH WALES

The perceptions of pupils towards the foundation subjects of English, mathematics, science and technology were determined by structured inte rviews. The pupils were selected by their responses to a Likert-type a ttitude scale previously administered; pupils were banded from the res ults of the scale into one of three bands: those with positive attitud es, neutral attitudes and negative attitudes towards the subjects unde r study. Approximately 48 pupils per subject were interviewed for each of the subjects, representing 4.5% of the original survey sampled in the previous research. The results of the research showed a marked pre dilection for English and games and a lack of enthusiasm for modern fo reign languages. There was also little positive response for subjects which occupy a small amount of curriculum time - music and religious e ducation - with art being an exception to this. There were indications that mathematics and science were more 'love-hate' subjects than othe rs. It was found that girls were more forthcoming with criticisms wher eas boys were more forthcoming with praise. Overall, there was no evid ence that the National Curriculum had either improved or damaged attit udes towards subjects. However, this research indicates that the Natio nal Curriculum had removed some of the pre-existing gender divisions, such as those relating to the separate sciences.