Understanding G&A: Introduction

• The government is committed to raising the performance of all underachieving pupils, both boys and girls
  
  
• Boys are interpreted as underachieving because overall their crude results (for example A*-C) are below that of girls.
  
  
• This pattern is not true for all boys, or for all subjects and differs if we look at progress rather than outcomes.
  
  
• Whilst there are differences in performance between boys and girls, we are very pleased that boys have worked so hard to achieve strong results and we congratulate them for their efforts.
  
  
• Girls, too, should be given due credit for their success - we hope they will be encouraged to opt for further studies in subject areas traditionally dominated by boys, mathematics, science, engineering and technology.
  
  
• While gender is one of the key factors affecting educational performance, it affects different sub-groups of boys and girls in different ways. Social class, ethnic origin and local context are all factors that are strongly linked to performance. The crucial point is in ensuring that policies designed to improve boys' results do not do so at the expense of girls