Boys' Education

References

1. “Boys: Getting it right”.  Report on the inquiry into the education of boys. House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Education and Training. Canberra, October 2002
2. “Primary schools “Need more male teachers””, Stephen Timms, Minister for Schools Standards. Daily Telegraph, 23 April 2002
3. eg. “Boys need male role models. You’ve got to have balance” by primary school teacher Mike Yule. Daily Telegraph, 31 March 2005; and “Boys are being failed by our schools”. Laura Clark. Daily Mail, 13 June 2006
4. Author David Thomas, in response to Dr Tony Sewell following above article by Laura Clark in the Daily Mail, 13 June 2006

 

Some recently published UK research papers on boys’ academic under-achievement

 

Connolly, P.  (2006).  “The effects of social class and ethnicity on gender differences in GCSE attainment: a secondary analysis of the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales, 1997-2001”.  British Educational Research Journal, 32 (1), 3-21

Newman, E.  (2005).  “Lads and English”.  English in Education, vol.39, no.1, 32-42

Gray, J., Peng, W.J., Steward, S. & Thomas, S.  (2004).  “Towards a typology of gender-related school effects: some new perspectives on a familiar problem.”  Oxford Review of Education, vol.30, (4), 529-550

 

Some Education Statistics

 

Year 2006 academic results for England and Wales

 

Basic English test at age 11

72% more boys than girls failed to reach even the lowest of three grades (77,100 compared to 44,700)(1)

 

GCSE

33% more girls than boys achieved the two top grades (21.8% compared to 16.4%)(1)

 

A-level

32% more girls than boys achieved A and B grades (220,262 compared to 167,007)(2)
68,000 fewer boys than girls actually took A-levels (368,670 compared to 437,028)(2)

 

First degree qualifications at Higher Education Institutions in the UK 2004/2005

45% more girls than boys gained a First or Upper 2nd (97,700 compared to 67,500)(3)

 

Higher Education Initial Participation Rates in England 2004/2005

19.5% more females than males age 17-30 entered higher education (147,395 compared to 123,390)(4)

 

Sources

1. Daily Telegraph 25 August 2006
2. Daily Telegraph 18 August 2006
3. National Statistics HESA SFR 94, 10 January 2006, Table 2
4. National Statistics SFR 14/2006, 4 April 2006, Table 3 (Provisional)

 

PARITY
March 2007

 

 

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