Girls being taught separately in the 50s (Picture

Boys aged 11 to 16 should be educated separate from girls to stop them being intimidated by clever female classmates, an education chief has said.

Alun Jones, president of the Girls’ Schools Association, claimed separating them in state schools could prevent boys falling behind girls in exam results.

Recent figures showed boys significantly falling behind girls in GCSE results.

‘If you have a very bright, very driven, very focused, very articulate lady, which a lot of girls are, that intimidates a boy in the classroom, especially boys of average ability,’ Mr Jones told the Sunday Times.


‘The result is that boys don’t put their hands up to answer questions or they indulge in immature behaviour to avoid being shown up.



‘Boys will put their hand up if they feel safe; they won’t if they are in fear of being ridiculed or humiliated. Boys fear failure just like girls do.

A single-sex class in the 30s (Picture: Alamy)

‘In the most formative years when adolescence is hitting with a vengeance, boys should be educated separately.

‘More single-sex classes for boys in state schools might halt the decline in boys’ achievement.’

Fears of a gender gap have been fuelled by Department for Education statistics released in October which showed 61.2 per cent of girls at state schools scored at least five C grades including English and maths last year, compared with 50.8 per cent of boys.

But at A-level boys did better than girls with 12.3% of male students gaining three A*-A grades, compared with 11.1 per cent of female classmates.