THE average 16-year-old who collected their GCSE results yesterday expects to earn a bumper salary of £89,000 a year, a survey has found.

It suggests that students may have an unrealistic idea of working life, given that the average salary currently stands at £26,500.

One in five pupils expected to rake in at least £100,000, the research conducted by bank Santander found.

Preferred careers for ambitious school-leavers include those in medicine, computing and banking.

The salaries for these highly coveted jobs were the “biggest factor” in making subject choices for almost a third of GCSE students, Santander said.

And the claims are backed by facts, as the number of students starting computing courses soared by 111 per cent last year.

Humanities saw the biggest fall — 22 per cent.

But students under pressure to study maths and sciences should be allowed to explore the arts — especially if they “excel” at them and find the subjects “rewarding,” said teaching union NUT general secretary Christine Blower.

The government has announced that the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is to be taught to all pupils of GCSE age and will include English, another language, maths, science and history or geography.

Schools that do not teach the Ebacc to all GCSE students will not be able to obtain Ofsted’s “outstanding” rating.
NUT has fiercely rejected this plan.

“It is vital that we do not send the message to learners that areas such as performing and creative arts, design and technology, PE or vocational subjects are of lesser importance than the EBacc subjects,” said Ms Blower.