Assessment overhaul to close results gender gap

A SERIES of measures to improve the performance of boys in the Leaving Certificate will be included in a major overhaul being planned for senior cycle education.

The gender analysis of this year’s exam results shows that a higher proportion of girls got honours - a grade C or better - in all 30 subjects at higher level except classical studies, applied maths, agricultural economics, technical drawing, economic history and Arabic.

In lower level papers, male students only did better than their female counterparts in history, geography, Spanish, applied maths, physics and chemistry (combined subject), agricultural science, engineering, construction studies and economics.