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16 July 2007 : Column 102W—continued
General Certificate of Secondary Education
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils in maintained mainstream schools who gained (a) five, (b) six, (c) seven, (d) eight and (e) nine or more good GCSEs in 2006 gained (i) five, (ii) four and (iii) three C grades. [148691]
Jim Knight: This information can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
General Certificate of Secondary Education: Gender
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the reasons for girls performing on average more highly than boys in GCSE examinations; and if he will make a statement. [149080]
Jim Knight: Girls have out-performed boys since GCSE examinations were introduced in 1988. In 2006 63.4 per cent. of girls and 53.8 per cent. of boys achieved five plus A*-C grade GCSEs. Girls are ahead of boys at all stages of education from early years and foundation onwards. The gap in England has been broadly stable over two decades, and is in line with that in other OECD countries.
The reasons are complex but appear mainly related to biological differences, differences in maturation, and differences in attitudes to learning and reading at different ages. The Department’s recently published research paper “Gender and education: the evidence on pupils in England”, of which there is a copy in the Library of the House, sets out the research evidence.
Two points should however be noted: first, boys’ GCSE attainment has improved sharply over the past decade, broadly keeping pace with that of girls; second, gender gaps can be minimised by good teaching practice and by the encouragement of reading, ensuring that pupils of both genders make good progress.
The Department is planning a programme of school-level investigations and action research activities designed to identify good practice in raising boys’ motivation and attainment, particularly in the field of literacy. This will build on existing Departmental initiatives such as “Boys Into Books”, which has enabled every state-funded secondary school to select for its library 20 free books targeted at teenage boys. It will also feed into the forthcoming National Year of Reading which will promote reading both for leisure and school attainment purposes.
Grammar Schools
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will list the grammar schools in England as at 1 January 2007, broken down by local education authority. [149149]
Jim Knight: There are 164 grammar schools in England, as shown in the following table:
| LA name | School names |
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