Gender gap is widening

Two years after girls overtook boys in A-level passes, the gender gap is continuing to widen.

And experts said the advent of AS-levels, putting the emphasis on continuous work throughout the sixth form rather than final year exams, is giving girls even more of an edge.

This year, 95.4 per cent of entries from girls achieved an A-level pass, compared to 93 per cent from boys - a gap of 2.4 per cent, up from 1.9 last year. At top grade, the gap is opening even more quickly.

This year, 21.9 per cent of girls got an A-grade compared to 19.3 per cent of boys, a gap of 2.6 per cent. Last year it was just 0.8.

The gap exists in nearly all subjects. The only one which more boys passed was political studies. Even there, girls got more Agrades. Boys scored more top grades in Spanish, French and German, traditionally thought to be female preserves, but girls got more overall passes.

Professor Alan Smithers of Liverpool University said: "The new structure of sixth-form studies rewards girls, because by and large they work harder. Girls have caught up with boys and overtaken them, as courses have changed and the emphasis has switched from final exams to continuous assessment and coursework."