Gender differences in achievement

• Gender patterns in achievement

  In the past, boys out-performed girls, but since the 1980s girls have improved more rapidly and now they do better than boys at all levels and in most subjects
• Key Stages 1 to 3

  • Girls do consistently better than boys, especially in English
  • In science and maths the gap is narrower
• In 2019, around three quarters of girls' grades were at pass level 4 or above, as against only two thirds of boys' grades
• AS and A level

  • Girls are more likely to pass, and to get higher grades, though the gap is narrower than at GCSE
• Girls even do better in traditional boys' subjects like sciences
• More girls than boys go into higher education
• Reasons for improvements in girls' achievement

  • External factors-factors outside the education system, such as home and family background, the job market and wider society
  • Internal factors-factors within schools and the education system, such as the effect of schools' equal opportunities policies