GCSE results 2016: girls continue to outperform boys

Becky Kells
Last updated 25 Aug 2016

Once again, girls have outperformed boys in GCSE results, despite overall grades seeing a massive drop across the country.

Girls have outperformed boys in this year’s GCSE results, with 71.3% of entries gaining C or above, compared to 62.4% of boys, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

There was a slight decline in both girls and boys hitting the top A* and A grades, but girls took the lead slightly in this area too: 7.9% of girls got an A, compared to 5% of boys.

Girls have outperformed boys at GCSE level repeatedly since before 2000, but the gap between boys and girls getting grade C or above is now at its highest since 2002 – a gap of 8.9%.

Girls schools across the country have reported seeing the “best day ever” for their GCSE students. Girls School Association school, Woldingham School, achieved 73% A*- A grades, with 46% of their grades being A*s – eight girls achieved at least 10 A*s.

At Manchester High School for Girls, 80% of GCSE grades awarded were in the A* - A bracket, with 96% being in the A* - B range. Non-selective school Moreton Hall reports that almost half of its pupils achieved straight A*s and As.

Jess Bushell, 16, received four A*s, five As and an A* today. Jess said: “I feel so happy; I was up all night worrying but I am so relieved!” She said that studying for her GCSES was stressful – “I was working a lot because I was so worried I wouldn’t get into a good college” – but ultimately she was relieved that her hard work had paid off. Jess plans to study AS levels in Maths, Further Maths, Biology and Chemistry.

This is the last year that GCSEs will be scored using the A*- G system: next year, the students will be marked numerically from a score of nine for the top scorers down to one at the lower end.

A survey carried out last year showed that the discrepancy between girls and boys in exam results is not just the case within to the UK – it is an international phenomenon. Researchers in 2015 compared the achievement in international tests of 1.5 million 15-year-olds from 74 world regions. Out of those surveyed, 70% of regions saw girls perform higher than boys in the core subjects. However, top performing boys did better than top performing girls internationally.

“I feel so happy; I was up all night worrying but I am so relieved!”

She said that studying for her GCSES was stressful – “I was working a lot because I was so worried I wouldn’t get into a good college” – but ultimately she was relieved that her hard work had paid off. Jess plans to study AS levels in Maths, Further Maths, Biology and Chemistry.

This is the last year that GCSEs will be scored using the A*- G system: next year, the students will be marked numerically from a score of nine for the top scorers down to one at the lower end.

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