12th September 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The recent GCSE results reveal that the gap between girls and boys has grown. Reported on the BBC website, the statistics also show that there has been an encouraging in the number of students taking single sciences (physics, chemistry and biology) since the government has been pushing for more students to continue the sciences into A Level. However, there was continued decrease in those taking history, geography and modern languages such as French, German and Spanish.
The gender gap is not particular to the UK, with almost every other country experiencing the same phenomenon. It’s been suggested that the difference is simply due to the comparative rates of development of boys and girls, but the widening of this gap will be worrying, especially when the gap was reduced this year at A Level.
There was an increase in the proportion of entries awarded an A*-C grade for the 23rd year in a row, with 68.9% of grades falling into that category. Also, 23.2% of entries were awarded an A* or A grade, which is up from 22.6% last year. The only downside was that the overall pass rate dropped to 92.7%.
The government is introducing a Baccalaureate style qualification, which they hope will encourage students to take a wider range of subjects, which should continue the trend of increasing sciences, but also restore the popularity of modern languages. Also, this year is the last year when 14 year olds will begin modular GCSEs. From 2012, all students will revert to courses with a much larger focus on their final exams. Michael Gove has said that he’s keen to halt the ‘culture of re-sits’.