A-level results 2017: Boys overtake girls in top grades for first time in years

Critics suggest dramatic reforms to the way in which A-levels are assessed are unfairly in favour of boys over girls

Twin Students James (left) and Toby Houston collect their A-level results at Peter Symonds college in Winchester, Hampshire (PA)

Boys have overtaken girls in achieving top A-level grades for the first time in 17 years, amid dramatic reforms to course curricula.

Pass grades have fallen overall for candidates receiving results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but girls appear to have struggled more than boys overall.

Male students scored more A* and A grades than their female classmate for the first time since 2000, according to figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

The gender gap has been decreasing over the past few years, down from 1.5 percentage points in 2011, to a female lead of just 0.3 per cent last year.

Boys now have a 0.5 per cent lead across the top two grades.

This year’s cohort are the first to sit tough new courses set out for 13 core subjects including computing, English and sciences.

Unlike in previous years, where candidates have been assessed on coursework and exams spread out through the academic years, this year’s students have been graded solely on their exam performance at the very end of the two-year courses.

The figures show that 8.8 per cent of boys’ entries were awarded an A* – the highest grade available – this summer, compared to 7.8 per cent of girls’ entries, a one percentage point gap that equates to thousands of candidates.

Some have suggested the reforms could benefit boys over girls, who typically do better in coursework and are shown to work more consistently through the year.

But education experts claimed this was a “knee jerk reaction” and that the picture was much more complex.

“Looking at the new reformed subjects alone, girls actually performed slightly better than boys,” said Carrie Paechter, a professor of Education at Nottingham Trent University.

“The numbers are so fractional; we are not in a position to make sweeping generalisations.”

While boys did take the lead in top grades overall, the closing gender gap appears to be a result of female grades falling rather than a spike in male students’ performance.

Girls outperformed boys significantly in two subjects: PE, but a difference of 12.8 per cent, and psychology, where they were ahead by 8.8 per cent.

“Anyone claiming the reforms are sexist are jumping to unfair conclusions,” said Professor Mary Richardson, a senior lecturer in education at UCL’s Institute of Education.

“While we are still seeing a shortage of girls taking STEM subjects compared to boys, the system as it stands is as fair as we can make it – that lack of female scientists is a much wider cultural problem that cannot be attributed to school exam results alone.”

Looking at results for A* and A grades, boys are ahead for the first time, with 26.6 per cent of entries handed one of these results, compared to 26.1 per cent of girls’ entries – a 0.5 percentage point gap.

Ahead of the results, Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, suggested that Government reforms could advantage male sixth-formers.

He suggested that major changes to A-levels back in 2000 – which saw a swing towards pupils sitting exams throughout their two-year courses – had benefited girls. Now this has been reversed, it may advantage boys, particularly in terms of top grades (A*-A).

Experts have previously suggested that girls tend to respond to modular courses, as they can apply themselves throughout the course, working towards specific modules or coursework, whereas boys are more likely to revise in the weeks before a final exam.

“I think cutting to the chase, what happened when A-levels changed from end-of-course to modular, which led to a big gap opening in favour of girls, suggests that the reversion to end-of-course examinations will lead to a narrowing of the gap.,” Prof Smithers said.

Today’s results show that among the 13 subjects that have reformed (affecting England only), the proportion of male and female entries awarded A* or A grades was equal at 24.3 per cent, while girls were slightly ahead at A* grades only.

There has also been a rise in the uptake of STEM subjects – sciences, technology, engineering and maths – statistically more popular among male candidates, although the overall share for top grades in these subjects is found to be equal at 24.3 per cent.

Overall entries for A-level Computing in particular have more than doubled in the past five years, with the number of female candidates on the increase.

Girls still only accounted for 816 Computing candidates out of a total 6,242, however, with the proportion of those scoring top A* grades decreasing by more than half (2.3 per cent down from 5.3 per cent last year).

Boys were also more likely to score top grades in Chemistry, but girls pulled ahead in Biology – accounting for more of the top grades than boys for another year.

Responding to the results, schools minister Nick Gibb said praised the strong uptake in core subjects such as maths, which continues to be the most popularly taken A-level in the UK.

“This and increasing entries to STEM subjects bodes well for the economic prosperity of our country,” he added. “It will help to grow our workforce in these sectors, allowing young people to secure well paid jobs and compete in the global jobs market of post Brexit Britain.”

Some 43 per cent of male maths candidates scored an A or higher, compared with 41.1 per cent of girls.

Boys accounted for 58,032 maths candidates out of 95,244 (60.93 per cent)

Mr Gibb added: “Increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects has been an important objective of the Government, so it is particularly pleasing to see that more young women are taking STEM subjects and that for the first time since 2004 there are more young women than young men studying chemistry. I hope everyone receiving their results will go on to successful careers.”