Pupils shun the arts in favour of more money-making A-levels as Economics makes top 5 for first time

By ELEANOR HARDING, EDUCATION EDITOR Published: 17:47, 9 June 2026 | Updated: 17:54, 9 June 2026 Pupils are shunning arts A-levels in favour of more lucrative subjects, as new data shows Economics is in the top five most popular for the first time. Some 46,365 pupils are finishing their Economics A-levels this summer, making it the fifth most popular subject after Maths, Psychology, Biology and Chemistry. Entries for Economics are up 11 per cent on the previous year, when it was ranked eighth most popular, and up 41 per cent on 2021, when it was 11th. In 2014, when records of this data began, it was the 13th most popular. In contrast, only 32,890 pupils took English Literature, down 6 per cent on last year, and 40,015 took Art and Design, down 1 per cent. Those subjects are now ranked 11th and 10th in popularity respectively, having previously been 9th and 7th in 2021. The data is from regulator Ofqual, which publishes entries for exams by subject every year. It comes after a damning report yesterday revealed graduates of Art and English degrees have some of the lowest average earnings – while Economics graduates have some of the highest. Pupils are shunning arts A-levels in favour of more lucrative subjects, as new data shows Economics is in the top five most popular for the first time (file picture) Peter Watkins, of CFA Institute, a society for investment professionals, said: 'Economics entering the top five A-level subjects is a significant signal about how young people are thinking about the world of work and the skills they will need to succeed.  'Economics teaches students to understand choice, scarcity, incentives and trade-offs, all ideas that sit at the heart of how capital is raised, invested and allocated. 'That young people are keen to develop their economic literacy suggests they see finance as a stable, resilient and long-term career choice.' The data also showed business studies is now ranked the sixth most popular – its highest ranking on record – following a 4 per cent rise to 43,395. Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, Drama suffered a 10 per cent drop to 6,710 entries, and Music suffered a 5 per cent drop to 4,635 entries. These are now ranked 25th and 29th respectively in terms of popularity. Source: Ofqual, number of entries per subject in 2026  In addition, GCSE entries for the 'tough' subjects of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) have risen this year by 0.9 per cent. The EBacc is made up of English, maths, science, a humanities subject and a language - and is favoured by universities. Yesterday, a report by think tank Policy Exchange revealed half of all graduates are earning less than the median national wage five years after leaving university. However, Economics graduates are the second-highest earning after Medicine and Dentistry, with median earnings of £50,400 after five years. In contrast, Performing Arts had the worst median earnings of £24,500, followed by Creative Arts and Design at £25,600. Meanwhile, graduates of English degrees were only earning £28,800, putting this subject in the bottom third of subjects for earnings. Data on graduate earnings by subject has only been available to pupils since the then Tory Government started publishing it in 2017. It is thought some of the changes in subject choices may be down to greater awareness of earning potential. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.