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Students are buying more maths and science textbooks in a bid to secure qualifications for jobs, according to new figures that show a stable start to the academic season.
Nielsen BookScan Top 5,000 data suggests the market is flat, with very little change year on year. According to the statistics, the academic sector is down just 0.2% year on year, whereas the wider market is down by 3.2% (four weeks to 2nd October).
This is good news for the academic sector after seeing strong growth last year. Academic sales in 2009 were up 3% year on year against a total market decline of 1.2%.
Science and mathematics is the one area of academic publishing which has seen exceptional growth in September with sales sales through BookScan’s top 5,000 up 44% year on year. Caroline Summers, UK sales director at Palgrave Macmillan, said: “Growth in these areas could be attributed to a larger number of courses available in these disciplines. With the ever-increasing competition for employment, students are looking at careers where a maths or science degree would be an advantage.”
However, other areas have been hit, with law sales down by 13% and medicine down 12%. There were also small declines in academic sales in psychology, philosophy, business and social studies.
Scott Coning, academic buying manager at Waterstone's, said the chain's extra focus on academic had led to a "solid start" to the season. He said: "One area that is standing out is vocational training; hairdressing, plumbing, policing etc which we think can be put down to people retraining, following changes in the economy."
Stephen Barr, managing director of Sage UK, said: “Sage has so far had a strong 2010, with continued growth of our sales internationally. Book sales are up by 7% over 2009, which was itself an exceptionally strong year.”
He added: “We are still seeing strong growth in sales of content for the undergraduate markets both in the UK and internationally. Textbook sales are diversifying to include an increased proportion of bundled or custom-published content.”
Barr said Sage’s e-book sales for 2010 are projected to be 80% up on 2009. He added: “However, sales for e-books in our business remain predominantly to institutional purchasers rather than individuals, and we expect to see these trends continue into 2011.”
Also with regard to e-books, Palgrave’s Summers said the company was in a good position for future e-textbook developments thanks to investment in digital. However, she added: “At this stage we are still seeing limited interest from the market as students have no easy central destinations until pricing models and formats are resolved with Apple and Amazon.”
Summers said: “The season has gone very well with excellent sales in all of our key academic areas. The main “Back to University” period started a little later this year, with many stores waiting until they have confirmed adoption information and reading lists before placing orders.
“Due to the current global economic situation, the need to compete and obtain better grades is greater than ever and students who want to stay one step ahead are still investing in textbooks.”
Oliver Gadsby, chief executive of Continuum, said: “Academic sales do seem to be holding up well—though it’s still a little early to determine how the BTU (Back to University) sales through our physical and online retail partners have gone. We’re firmly in the humanities and social sciences, and are seeing some healthy sales there: philosophy and education are two of the subjects in which we are seeing nice growth.”