The qualitative data in the table below can be linked to the issue of changes in qualifications levels in relation to gender. These statistics can be obtained from the Education Statistics for the UK 1980-1984 by Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, and from the DFEE Statistics of Education Public Examination GCSE/GNVQ and GCE/AGNVQ in England 1999, also from the Stationary Office. These primary figures, which highlight the relationship between gender and changes in qualifications levels, are the GCE O-level results from the academic year 1979-80 and the GCSE results from the academic year 1998-99. The results from both years focus upon the number of students achieving A to C grades in the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Sciences.

Year 1979-80 1998-99 1979-80 1998-99

Subject No. Of A-C grades No. Of A-C grades No. Of A-C grades No. Of A-C grades

English 70,520 176,674 52,480 132,780

English Literature Not Applicable 166,430 Not Applicable 123,738

Mathematics 32,240 134,118 38,440 134,754

The results from 1979-80 demonstrate that the amount of A to C grades at O-level achieved by girls in English was very high compared to the figure achieved by the boys. However, the results obtained in both Mathematics and Science in the same year show that boys had achieved more A to C grades than girls. In comparison, the results from the academic year 1998-99 illustrate the amount of A to C grades at GCSE level in English and Sciences achieved by girls exceeded the achievements of the boys. The 1998-99 results concerning A to C grades in Mathematics at GCSE level were more or less the same, but the data showed that boys only marginally achieved better results than the girls. The changes in trends over the past decade or so, in terms of academic achievements suggest that girls are now achieving better grades overall in the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Sciences as illustrated by the statistics. The data also supports the idea that girls are excelling academically at a faster rate than boys and are exceeding, in most cases the achievements of boys in contemporary society.

There are a few debatable assumptions for such changes concerning boys’ and girl’s academic achievements. There are arguments suggesting these changes could be due to boys failing but also that girls are now succeeding. Research by feminist groups has been conducted in the fields of inequality and education. Much of this research was conducted before the 1990s and the results indicated that the national curriculum in schools was male orientated and that in the classroom, tutors devoted greater amounts of their time and effort on educating the boys, teaching them rather than the girls. Schools had originally been structured and developed in order to educate males, as the females in traditional times would take on the role of the homemaker and so required less education. So the norm was for boys to attend school in order to develop their role as the male breadwinner in the family, as an attempt to prepare them for working life. This tradition has meant that throughout higher and further education there tended to be more male professors and teachers and despite the fact that teachers of younger children are still predominantly female, most higher positions in schools remain to be male. This imbalance continues throughout secondary and higher education. (Arnot et al. 1996) This research emphasized the fact that boys were achieving far more in terms of academic performance than the girls, which informed educators, the government and policy makers that the school’s national curriculum needed to be looked at. This may have led to possible alterations concerning the school curriculum in order to lessen the male dominance surrounding education and allow girls the opportunity to succeed equally. However, these alterations may have been implemented to such an ext

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