Girls outdo the boys at school AND university

GIRLS outperform boys all the way from primary school to university, a study found.

In education before the age of seven, research by Cambridge University Press & Assessment showed more females met or exceeded expectations than their male counterparts.

At GCSEs, there were only five subjects where males were the highest achievers – maths, economics, physics, ancient history, and ‘other sciences’. When boys do outperform girls in these subjects, the margin is smaller than when girls outperform boys.

At A- level, young women achieved higher results than young men. And at university a greater percentage of females achieved first class undergraduate degrees than men.

But maths remains an outlier, with boys achieving higher grades than girls from early years

‘Gaps increased in magnitude’

education to A-levels. Matthew Carroll, who led the study based on data for England, said: ‘Female-led attainment gaps increased in magnitude, and male- led attainment gaps decreased in years in which examinations were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘ The fact that the earliest attainment gaps between genders are based on teacher assessments, which are known to favour female students, could indicate that early differences in perception sow the seeds of different educational experiences.’

Mr Carroll said females remain ‘under-represented’ in some subjects, adding: ‘We need to figure out why female students are still less likely to pursue technology, engineering and maths.’

And he said ‘apparent advantages’ shown by female students are ‘ not necessarily carried through to employment, with gaps in pay, opportunities and skill utilisation still common’.