Secondary modern pupils may well have studied Rural Science. Schools on the edge of urban areas might have had allotments or their own farms with tractors. Children learned how to grow vegetables and tend animals such as chickens, goats and even cows. The work was used to inform other lessons so produce grown might then have been used in a weighing exercise in maths.

Job prospects: Farm work, butcher, food production, factory worker, greengrocer

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Today, GCSE environmental science is a multidisciplinary subject, including the study of farming, fisheries and forestry among many other topics. As part of the GCSE course, pupils do an environmental investigation, looking, for instance, at the effect of residential development, agricultural practices, road-building or industry on the local area. Students also study rocks and soil, organisms and life processes as well as the atmosphere, air, water and energy.

Job prospects: Engineering, environmental services