Last year?s A-Level results saw boys outperform girls for the first time in decades. Is it that boys perform better in exams, or that girls react well to coursework" And what about GCSEs" Elizabeth Ivens investigates
For the first time in nearly two decades, boys outperformed girls in the top grades at A-Level in 2017, outshining them to win more A*s and As. Although the gap was only half a percentage (26.6% to 26.1%), the gender gap has been steadily closing since 2011, when girls won 1.5% more of the highest grades than boys, with 27.7% of girls compared to 26.2% of boys achieving an A* to A grade.
Boys versus girls
Many suggested the result was due to the coming to fruition of the newly reformed A-Levels, with boys being better suited to the new format (the entire course tested at the end of two years) and girls excelling more in steady coursework and continuous assessment. Ironically, last year?s changes to the system also heralded the first rise in the proportion of A-Level exams awarded the highest results since 2011; with more than one in four entries scoring at least an A grade. This was despite one of the main purposes of the new linear exams being to cut the numbers of the highest grades.
So, with the 2018 exams around the corner, what do leading independent schools think about the so-called gender gap, and about what lies in store for students this summer"
Long-term impact
Deputy Head (Academic) of co-educational Stowe School, in Buckinghamshire,...