CLASS ACT: Girls at Rathkeale College’s co-educational year 13 classes have the edge on the boys in academic achievement.

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Teenage boys' attitude to reading is widening the gap between them and their female classmates at a Wairarapa college.

Rathkeale College in Masterton is a state-integrated boys' school where girls from sister school St Matthew's Collegiate join in years 12 and 13 to form a co-educational senior school.

NCEA assessment data show 29.5 per cent of year 13 boys are not achieving level 3 nationally, compared with 18.9 per cent of girls.

In some schools in Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay, more than 50 per cent of boys are not achieving.

At Rathkeale College, girls have always performed better than boys, but that gap widened last year for year 13 students sitting NCEA level 3.

The boys' results were so poor that they pushed the school into one of the worst rates for all Wairarapa colleges, while the girls' results meant they achieved some of the region's best results.

Rathkeale College principal Willy Kersten said the school's results varied each year depending on the school roll. The year 13 boys last year had tracked poorly academically from year 11 onwards.

It was not uncommon for boys sitting NCEA in a co-ed school to do worse than girls. "It's not a distraction factor, it's more to do with boys' priorities."

NCEA put a higher demand on literacy and "boys just want to be told to do the calculation and not have to read the context".

"We're essentially dealing with the difference in boys' and girls' attitude to reading," he said. "We have some students arrive in year 9 with real weaknesses in literacy."

Year 13 student Liam Kirkpatrick, 17, said the transition from single-sex schools to co-ed was a "learning curve". "The classroom behaviour from the boys tamed down and the girls give you an incentive to try a bit harder and get competitive.

"You notice the difference with the girls in class, though, because the guys just want to write the minimum and say the minimum. Reading isn't a priority for us."

Female classmate Ashmore Begg, 17, enjoyed attending a girls' school for the first three years, but said it was good timing when the schools joined together.

"The boys compete more against each other but the top achievers . . . is always a mix of girls and boys."

She said it was noticeable that girls provided more explanation with their answers and tended to write more in assessments. "I prefer internal assessments and find them easier, which most girls do."

St Matthew's principal Erik Pedersen said the girls consistently performed better, but the comparison with the boys last year was particularly bad.

"If those results were happening year after year, you would have cause for concern."

Post Primary Teachers' Association president Angela Roberts said literacy played a part in the widening gap between boys and girls and, by year 9, boys were often well behind.

"But high schools are pretty good at pulling students up . . . in the first two years, so they're on par by year 11," she said.

NCEA BREAKDOWN

2012 NCEA year 13 level 3 students by school and gender:

NATIONAL AVERAGE: 18.9 per cent of girls did not achieve, compared to 29.5 per cent of boys

HIGHEST-ACHIEVING WELLINGTON GIRLS

Chilton Saint James School: 100 per cent achieved

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School: 98.5 per cent

St Oran's College: 97.2 per cent

LOWEST-ACHIEVING WELLINGTON GIRLS

Wainuiomata College: 44.7 per cent not achieved

Porirua College: 40.8 per cent

Naenae College: 37.9 per cent

HIGHEST-ACHIEVING WELLINGTON BOYS

Hutt International Boys' School: 91.7 per cent achieved

Scots College: 90 per cent

Kapiti College: 82 per cent

LOWEST-ACHIEVING WELLINGTON BOYS

Wellington Institute of Technology: 60 per cent not achieved

Porirua College: 54.6 per cent

Naenae College: 37.9 per cent

HIGHEST-ACHIEVING WAIRARAPA GIRLS

Solway College: 100 per cent achieved

Tararua College: 95.2 per cent

Rathkeale College/St Matthew's Collegiate: 90.9 per cent

LOWEST-ACHIEVING WAIRARAPA GIRLS

Ponatahi Christian School: 50 per cent not achieved

Makoura College: 50 per cent

Chanel College: 33.4 per cent

HIGHEST-ACHIEVING HAWKE'S BAY GIRLS

Iona College: 100 per cent achieved

St Joseph's Maori Girls' College: 100 per cent

Napier Girls' High School: 96.9 per cent

Woodford House: 95.3 per cent

LOWEST-ACHIEVING HAWKE'S BAY GIRLS

Hukarere High School: 33.4 per cent not achieved

Hastings Girls' High School: 28.5 per cent

Central Hawke's Bay College: 28 per cent

HIGHEST-ACHIEVING HAWKE'S BAY BOYS

Lindisfarne College: 91.1 per cent achieved

Hastings Boys' High School: 83.6 per cent

Karamu High School: 82.3 per cent

LOWEST-ACHIEVING HAWKE'S BAY BOYS

Wairoa High School: 43.8 per cent not achieved

Dannevirke High School: 40 per cent

Taradale High School: 36.2 per cent