Why choose physics and chemistry? The influences on physics and chemistry subject choices of BME students About the IOP The Institute of Physics is a scientific membership organisation that is devoted to increasing the understanding and application of physics. It has an extensive worldwide membership and is a leading communicator of physics with all audiences from specialists through government to the general public. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in scientific publishing and the electronic dissemination of physics. The RSC is the largest organisation in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences. Supported by a worldwide network of 44 000 members and an international publishing business, our activities span education, conferences, science policy and the promotion of chemistry to the public. The research team would like to thank all the school and university staff who helped us to set up the interviews and focus groups with young people. We are also very grateful to the young people themselves for giving up their time to be interviewed, and for telling us about the influences on their decisions to study chemistry and physics. We would like to thank the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry for their advice and support throughout the project. Finally, we would like to thank Julie Thompson, Carol Wilkin and Sarah Harland, who made significant contributions to the research. The Royal Society of Chemistry would also like to acknowledge a contribution from the HEFCE-funded Chemistry for our Future programme towards the costs of this study.