Boys narrow gap on girls in some results

BOYS managed to narrow the difference between their Leaving Certificate grades and those of girls in many subjects this year but are still failing maths and science subjects at far higher rates.

Figures from the State Examinations Commission reveal that the high failure rate in ordinary level chemistry — one of those causing major concern for employer bodies in recent days — was largely due to a significant proportion of male candidates who did not get a D grade or better. Under one-in-four of the 612 boys who took the ordinary level exam failed, compared to one-in-seven of 638 girls sitting the same exam.

Of the 3,700-plus Leaving Certificate students who failed ordinary level maths (just under 10% of all who took it) 2,177 were male. This represents almost 12% of the 18,447 male candidates, compared with the 7.8% of girls.

Despite the proportion failing ordinary level maths falling in each of the last two years, from over 12% in 2008, industry leaders and prospective overseas investors have raised fears that the statistics may have an influence on job creation in Ireland. The American Chamber of Commerce warned on Wednesday that those thinking about setting up or expanding their businesses here will be worried about the ability to get the right people when they hear about these kind of results.

The 216 students who failed ordinary level physics this year included 12.1% of male candidates but less than 9% of females, while 9.4% of those males who sat higher level chemistry did not pass, compared with 7% of females.

The boys in the Leaving Certificate class of 2010 narrowed the gap on their female counterparts, however, in higher level English and biology.

They also got more honours in higher level physics than last year, whereas the proportion of girls with an A, B or C fell slightly.

The gap between girls and boys widened in a range of the most popular subjects, with more females still getting top grades again in the majority of exams. In ordinary level maths, for example, 72.4% of girls got an honours grade (A, B, or C) compared with 64.6% of male students, although both were improvements on last year.

Both genders got slightly more honours in higher level maths than the class of 2009, but the proportion of students getting honours in higher level Irish fell significantly from almost 87% to 81% this year.

However, the drop was far higher for boys — from 85.3% to 78.6% with top grades.

There were slight improvements across the board in honours at higher level French. Girls remain better in their art grades (82% got honours at higher level, compared to 70.6% of boys). And a drop in honours in this year’s home economics grades was far more pronounced among the male candidates.

* The Choices for College supplement in Monday’s Irish Examiner will show the cut-off points for entry to all CAO courses, and offer advice on grants, accommodation and alternative options for training and education.