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A "golden hello" should be extended to those embarking on higher education qualifications in mathematics, engineering, chemistry and physics.

Academic salaries are low, but they are not the primary reason that a skills shortage in science and mathematics in the UK is looming. Increasingly school-leavers take softer science degrees rather than those in wealth-creating science and technology. In the past five years, more than a dozen chemistry departments have been closed mainly due to low student numbers.

A simple solution needs implementing immediately. Provide financial inducements - in other words, grants - for students electing to study degrees in areas that Roberts has identified as having "emerging shortages".

David Barr
Cambridge