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Girls outperform boys across all key subjects in each of the first three stages of learning in Welsh schools, new figures have revealed.

The Welsh Conservatives have called for an inquiry into Wales’ “frightening” gender attainment gap after figures showed a marked difference in the performance of boys and girls in the Foundation Phase, Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.

And for the first time since the statistics were introduced in 2012, the difference between boys and girls in the key Foundation Phase Indicator (FPI) has widened.

Figures show the percentage of girls achieving the FPI – the expected level for pupils aged seven – has increased every year since 2012, and is now the highest ever at 91.2%.

Boys figures

But the percentage of boys achieving the benchmark has decreased slightly by 0.1% this year to 83% – the first recorded fall.

The percentage of boys achieving the expected outcome or above in the Foundation Phase decreased for all areas of learning from 2015 to 2016.

In Key Stage 2, 91.3% of 11-year-old girls achieved expected levels or above in English/Welsh, maths and science (known as the Core Subject Indicator), while only 86.1% of boys did so.

A breakdown by subject shows girls also outperformed boys in English, Welsh, maths and science individually – by as much as 5.6%.

Key Stage 3

In Key Stage 3, 89.7% of 14-year-olds girls achieved expected outcomes in core subjects this year, which was 7.4% higher than boys.

Girls were superior in all disciplines, with boys lagging behind by as much as 8% in English.

The gap between boys and girls in Key Stage 3 maths rose from 3.4% in 2015 to 3.8% this year.

(Image: Dave Thompson/PA Wire)

Conservative skills spokesman Mohammad Asghar said the data painted a “frightening picture of education in Wales” and called for a review of pupil performance.

“More research needs to be done to explain why boys are consistently being outperformed by their female classmates,” he said.

“The lack of educational attainment has implications beyond the classroom and will undoubtedly impact their competitiveness on the job market in future.

“The imbalance is unacceptable and I call on the Cabinet Secretary to launch an inquiry into this matter as soon as possible so that we can once and for all get to the bottom of this.”

Expected level

Figures show that overall, the percentage of pupils achieving at least the expected level in all subjects in Key Stage 2 and 3 was higher in 2016 than in 2015.

But performance was more variable in areas of learning at the end of the Foundation Phase, with declines in the percentage of pupils achieving expected outcomes in language and personal development.

Nevertheless, nearly nine in 10 children (87%) reached the expected level in all areas of learning in the Foundation Phase, assessed at the end of Year Two – which was up from 86.8% in 2015 and 80.5% in 2012.

'Progress made'

Owen Hathway, policy officer for teachers’ union NUT Cymru, said: “Across the key stages we can see progress being made but obviously it is always important to reflect on where further support can be given to teachers.

“We can never expect attainment levels to continue to rise if we are not backing teachers through tackling workload concerns, offering high-quality continued professional development or by ensuring schools are properly resourced.

“These statistics are encouraging and a reward for the dedication of teachers and pupils. Hopefully we can ensure a cooperative approach from everyone in the sector to continue to create the best environment for children to succeed.”

'Encouraging'

Teacher assessment in the first three stages of learning is an internal way of monitoring standards that came to prominence in Wales following the abolition of Sats – national tests for seven, 11 and 14-year-old pupils – in 2004.

Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said: “These are encouraging figures with nearly nine out of 10 pupils achieving the expected outcomes, with the percentage of pupils achieving at least the expected level higher than in 2015 in all subjects in both key stages.

“The figures do show a performance gap between boys and girls, which is a matter we do take seriously.

“This is a complex issue with a number of possible root causes and is not unique to Wales.

“It’s encouraging to see that performance between girls and boys has narrowed for older pupils in most subject, but we recognise this must be addressed further so that all pupils have the best start in life and have the skills and knowledge to succeed in the modern world.”