Boys in England have opened a wide gap over girls in maths and science, based on analysis by researchers using an authoritative international assessment, overturning recent claims that boys are falling behind girls at school.
Researchers at University College London (UCL) found that boys in year 5 and year 9 at school in England “scored significantly higher than girls in maths and science” in recent international assessments, compared with those conducted before the Covid pandemic.
Dr Jennie Golding, of UCL’s Institute of Education and 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. However, more research is needed to understand the reasons fully and address this problem.”
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).
The results run counter to arguments by politicians and thinktanks that boys are overlooked within England’s education system. A report published by the Centre for Social Justice last week claimed that “from nursery to university, boys are falling behind girls”. Last year, MPs on parliament’s education select committee launched an investigation titled “Why do boys lag behind girls at all ages of education?”
In the 2019 Timss maths assessment, boys and girls in year 9 in England achieved very similar results, of 516 and 514 respectively. But in the latest version, carried out in 2023, boys opened up a 26-point lead ahead of girls, scoring 538 against 512 for girls.
UCL said the gender gap in England was the widest of any of the 59 participating countries, including the US, Japan and Singapore.
In science, boys in year 9 overturned a three-point lead by girls in 2019 to significantly outperform them with a 14-point lead of 538 to 524 in the latest assessments.
Across both year groups in maths and in year 9 science, the researchers found that “significantly higher percentages of boys reported being very confident on statements related to maths and science,” while a large percentage of girls said they were not confident.
In year 9 maths, 21% of boys and 9% of girls reported they were very confident, while 38% of boys and 60% of girls reported they were not confident.
The Timss results partially mirror GCSE results among year 11 students in England since the pandemic. In 2024, boys consistently outperformed girls at both grade 4 and grade 7 in maths, physics, economics and statistics.
However, stubborn gaps remain between disadvantaged pupils and their better-off peers. The UCL researchers found there were significant gaps between pupils who had access to a large number of books at home and those who did not. In year 9 science, pupils in households with fewer than 10 books scored 461, compared with 601 for those with over 200 books at home.
Prof Mary Richardson, the study’s principal investigator, said: “Despite efforts within schools, socioeconomic factors are still influencing how many pupils perform in maths and science.
“Those who have fewer educational resources at home need extra support and awareness in order to access the same opportunities to learn compared with their better-resourced peers.”
