Boys England have opened a wide gap on girls in mathematics and sciences, based on the analysis of researchers using an international assessment, reversing the recent affirmations that boys are delayed from girls in school.
Researchers from the University College London (UCL) found that boys in 5th and 9th year at school in England “have obtained a significantly higher score than girls in mathematics and sciences” Recent international assessmentsCompared to those made before the cocovated pandemic.
Dr. Jennie Golding, the Institute of Education of the UCL and the investigator co-principe of research, said: “It is difficult to say exactly why this gap opened, but our results indicate certain factors, in particular confidence, a feeling of belonging and absenteeism. However, more research is necessary to fully understand the reasons and solve this problem. »»
The improvement of boys was particularly visible in mathematics, where the analysis of the data revealed that more confidence was “strongly associated” with a higher achievement in the Quadrian tests carried out for the Trends in the International Mathematics and Sciences Study (Timss).
The results are contrary to the arguments of politicians and thoughts that boys are neglected in the education system of England. A report Posted by the Center for Social Justice Last week, said that “from the university nursery, boys are late on girls”. Last year, deputies on the selective education committee of the Parliament launched an investigation Entitled “Why are boys lagging behind girls at all ages?”
In the assessment of Timss 2019 mathematics, boys and girls of the 9th year in England obtained very similar results respectively from 516 and 514. But in the latest version, carried out in 2023, the boys opened a 26 -point lead in front of the girls, marking 538 against 512 for girls.
The UCL said that the gender gap in England was the widest of the 72 participating countries, including the United States, Japan and Singapore.
In Science, boys of the 9th year overturned a three -point lead by girls in 2019 to surpass them considerably with an advance of 14 points from 538 to 524 in the last evaluations.
In the two groups of year in mathematics and in 9th year, the researchers found that “significantly higher percentages of boys said they were very confident in the statements related to mathematics and sciences”, while a large percentage of girls said they were not confident.
In the 9th year, 21% of boys and 9% of girls said they were very confident, while 38% of boys and 60% of girls said they were not confident.
Timss’s results partially reflect the GCSE results among 11th year students in England from the pandemic. In 2024, boys systematically surpassed girls in 4th year and 7th year in mathematics, physics, economics and statistics.
However, tenacious gaps remain between disadvantaged students and their peers better. UCL researchers discovered that there were important shortcomings between students who had access to a large number of books at home and those who did not do so. In the 9th year, household students with less than 10 pounds marked 461, compared to 601 for those who have more than 200 pounds at home.
Professor Mary Richardson, the main investigator of the study, said: “Despite efforts in schools, socio-economic factors always influence the number of students in mathematics and science.
“Those who have fewer educational resources at home need additional support and awareness -raising in order to access the same opportunities to learn about their better resources peers.”