Science & Technology Committee Report

13 September 2011

Health and Safety is a convenient excuse

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee have prepared a report on Practical experiments in school science lessons and science field trips.

They began this inquiry because of a perception that health and safety concerns are preventing science practicals in schools and fieldwork and field trips. What they found was that the perception was to a large extent misconceived. Instead, they found concerns, from a broad range of organisations, that students are not receiving the practical science education necessary to produce the next generation of scientists.

They found it was clear that the provision of practical classes, and how those are supplemented with fieldwork and field trips, varies from the excellent to the dull or non-existent. On health and safety, they found no credible evidence to support its oft cited explanation for decline of practicals and work outside the classroom. While “health and safety” may be used as a convenient excuse for avoiding practicals and work outside the classroom, they consider that there are more fundamental reasons why many students are receiving poor practical science experiences during their school education.