ABSTRACT

In schools too, the picture is equally rosy. In a recent UK report from the Office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools and the Equal Opportunities Commission (1996:6) it was unequivocally stated that, ‘Girls out-perform boys at ages seven, eleven, and fourteen in National Curriculum assessments in English. Achievements in mathematics and science are broadly similar.’ More importantly for this chapter, the report went on to state, ‘girls are more successful than boys at every level in the GCSE’. Evidence for this claim has been gradually accumulated over time and clearly indicates that girls out-perform boys consistently at GCSE (NCER 1992; Harris et al. 1993) as well as at all stages of compulsory schooling (Sammons 1995).