Pupils achieving five or more GCSE grades A*-C or equivalent: by sex
On the whole girls continue to outperform boys at all levels of education in the UK from Key Stage 1 to higher education. In 2005/06, 64 per cent of girls in their last year of compulsory education achieved five or more GCSE grades A* to C, compared with 54 per cent of boys. This was an increase for both sexes since 2004/05, when the figures were 62 per cent and 52 per cent for girls and boys respectively.
The difference in achievement between the sexes starts at an early age. In England, for Key Stage 1 (5 to 7 years old) to Key Stage 3 (11 to 14 years old), girls scored consistently higher than boys in the summer 2007. There was an exception at level 4 in Key Stage 2 (7 to 11 years old) mathematics tests, where boys (78 per cent) outperformed girls (76 per cent); and mathematics teacher assessments, where boys and girls both achieved 78 per cent. At Key Stage 3, the difference between the sexes was greater for English than mathematics, with 80 per cent of girls having achieved level five or above compared to 67 per cent of boys.
The increase in the proportion of both young men and young women in the UK gaining two or more GCE A levels (or equivalent) has been more marked among young women. Between 1990/91 and 2003/04, the proportion of young women gaining this result more than doubled, from 20 per cent to 44 per cent. In 2005/06 the figure was 42 per cent. Over the same period, the proportion of young men gaining this result increased from 18 per cent to 33 per cent.
At A level, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, young women continued to outperform young men in virtually all subject groups in 2005/06. With the exception of French, German and Spanish, a greater proportion of women than men achieved grades A to C. In English both sexes achieved approximately equal proportions of A to C grades.
In 2005/06 more women than men in the UK were awarded National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ). This was most noticeable at level 3 where 63 per cent of NVQs/SVQs were awarded to women. Of over 600,000 NVQs/SVQs awarded, 56 per cent were to women compared with 44 per cent to men – unchanged since 2004/05.
The subjects selected for vocational qualifications differ between men and women. Men are more likely to study vocational qualifications for construction, planning and the built environment (with almost 100 per cent of these awards going to men), or engineering and manufacturing technologies (89 per cent of all awards), whereas women are more likely to study health, public services and care related vocational qualifications (around 86 per cent of all awards).
Achievement at first degree level by sex:UK, 2005/06
Latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that there are more women than men entering full-time undergraduate courses: in autumn 2006, a total of 390,000 gained a place, of whom 210,000 (54 per cent) were women. Among those awarded degrees, men and women were equally likely to gain a first class degree, with a narrowing of the male/female gap; 11.5 per cent of men and 10.7 per cent of women gained first class degrees in 2005/06 compared with 11.1 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively in 2004/05. However, the proportion of women attaining an upper second remained greater than that of men at 47 per cent of women, compared with 39 per cent of men.
Sources: Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF); Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
Notes: Data for pupils attaining five or more GCSE grades A* to C are as a percentage of all pupils in their last year of compulsory education. Data for 1992/93 to 1994/95 are for Great Britain.
Data for GCE A level achievement count 2 AS levels as 1 A level pass. Data are for pupils in schools and further education institutions. Data prior to 1995/96, and for Wales and Northern Ireland from 2002/03, and for Scotland, relate to schools only.
06/12/2007- Please Note: When originally published on 26/11/2007 the figures given for the numbers of awards that go to men in engineering and manufacturing technologies and in construction, planning and the built environment were transposed. This has now been corrected.
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