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Underachievement is a very widely used term that means different things to different people. It is used by politicians, academics, journalists, teachers, psychologists, social workers and other practitioners who work with children and youth to describe the poor academic performance of equivalent students, ethnic groups, social groups, social classes, gender, sectors of the schooling community, nations and geographical regions. Teachers frequently use the term to describe pupils who have difficulties in learning and/or are difficult to teach. In general, their ability is not reflected in their performance. More recently, the term has been specifically used by some researchers in relation to the perceived under–performance of boys. Politicians on the other hand, use the term more loosely to suggest that the standards of achievement need to be raised. When reviewing the school system, they, along with other policy makers, consider whether the schools are as effective as they could be and whether they are making the maximum effort to support their charges in producing the highest academic achievement possible. Sometimes the term is used alongside social exclusion to identify socio–economic groups who have been marginalised. To complicate matters, the term underachievement does not possess a universally agreed definition.