Boys 'significantly' outperform girls in maths and science tests

Boys in England are "significantly" outperforming girls in maths and science, overturning recent claims that boys are falling behind girls at school.

- Richard Adams

Researchers at University College London found that boys in year 5 and year 9 in England "scored significantly higher than girls in maths and science" in recent international assessments compared with those done before the Covid pandemic.

Dr Jennie Golding, of UCL's Institute of Education and the co-principal investigator of the research, said: "It is difficult to say exactly why this gap has opened up but our findings point to some factors including confidence, a sense of belonging and absenteeism."

The improvement by boys was particularly noticeable in maths, where the data analysis found that greater confidence was "strongly associated" with higher attainment in the quadrennial tests conducted for the Trends in international mathematics and science study (Timss).