Girls once again outperform boys in Leaving Cert

GIRLS have once again far outperformed boys with high grades in the Leaving Certificate, with little sign of course changes which might help close the gender gap.

Analysis of figures from the State Examinations Commission shows that male students got more honours grades - an A1 to C3 result - in only six out of 26 subjects examined at higher level. Those subjects were Latin, applied maths, engineering, construction studies, economic history and Arabic.

In ordinary level papers, girls did better in 21 subjects, with more boys getting honours only in history, agricultural science, engineering, technical drawing and economics.