Parents have long suspected it, school reports have hinted at it and teachers have often accepted it. Now the statistics show it: school is a girl’s world. Research published by the Bow Group think tank this summer revealed that boys fall dramatically behind in the key disciplines from the beginning of their school career—and then carry on falling. As young men, a significant minority fall out of school into crime, young offender institutes and sometimes prison.
For a government intent on extending the learning experience to 18, these statistics should make sobering reading. The Bow Group’s figures show that at the age of seven, 9 per cent more girls hit government targets than boys. By 14, the difference is 15 per cent. Only 52 per cent of boys get five good GCSEs, compared with 61 per cent of girls. And last year, 44 per cent of girls stayed on to do A-levels, against 36 per cent of boys—more school seems to be the last thing boys want.
The distaste of boys for the school environment becomes more apparent if you look at behaviour and attendance records. Last year, boys were responsible for 79 per cent of expulsions and 72 per cent of suspensions. That’s over 250,000 boys who had such severe problems with school that they were thrown out.
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