Boys move a step closer to the girls

BOYS are catching up with girls in the new tougher GCSes as they benefit from coursework being scrapped, experts say.

The gap between boys and girls getting top grades is at its narrowest in eight years – with boys now just 6.5 percentage points behind.

This year, girls received a grade 7 – equivalent to the old A – in 23.7 per cent of exam entries. For boys, this figure was 17.2 per cent.

This gap has narrowed dramatically since last year’s 7.3 percentage points. It had been growing steadily almost every year since 2010, when it was 6 percentage points.

experts believe the reversal is down to the scrapping of coursework – which boys tend to find harder. Alan Smithers, professor of education at the University of Buckingham, said: ‘Boys are still behind but they are climbing up a bit. It does suggest that boys are better able to show what they can do with the new style of courses.

‘This is a gross generalisation, and obviously there are many exceptions – but it does appear that when it comes to coursework, girls are more likely to keep working at it while some boys might get bored.

‘however, when it comes to the final examinations, boys are more likely to throw everything at them at the last minute, while in general girls will continue to proceed in the same careful way.’

Girls also outperformed boys this summer when it came to a clean sweep of 9s – the top grade.

They made up 62 per cent of the 732 pupils aged 16 in england who took at least seven subjects and scored all 9s.

In addition, the gap between girls and boys getting at least a grade 4 – the equivalent of the old C – has slimmed since last year. Some 71.4 per cent of girls achieved this, compared with 62.3 per cent of boys, a gap of 9.1 percentage points. Last year the gap was 9.5 points.

Some experts believe that more girls are applying to university than boys because their exam results are better. however, feminist campaigners point out this leads to only limited advantage in the workplace.

Many of the university courses which lead to the most lucrative jobs, such as maths, are still dominated by male students. And in yesterday’s GCSe results boys were still ahead in the subject – with 16.8 per cent getting at least a 7, compared with 14.9 per cent of girls.

‘Some boys might get bored’