May 9, 2018 / C H Thompson

Gender and achievement

Until 1980s the underachievement of girls was the major concern. However since 1990s girls started to outperform boys in all areas of the education system.
At GCSE girls tend to do better in the majority of subjects:
63.4% of girls and 53.8% of boys achieved 5+ A*-C GCSEs or equivalent in 2006 – a gender gap of 9.6%
largest gender differences (a female advantage of more than 10% on those gaining an A*-C GCSE) are for the Humanities, the Arts and Languages
smaller gender differences (a female advantage of 5% or less) tend to be in Science and Maths subjects
girls are more likely than boys to gain an A* grade at GCSE
boys are a little more likely to gain a G grade at GCSE or to gain no GCSEs at all

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