Are Girls Smarter Than Boys?

By Sara Templeton

In new statistics fresh out of the United Kingdom, it has come about that GCSE results, similar in form to VCE or HSC here in Australia, have revealed that, on average, the girls scored some 9 per cent higher than boys across the board.

The results speak volumes for the girls: They scored higher in every subject except Physics, Biology and Other technology.

In all seriousness though, the results have caused quite a panic in Britain, with many experts trying to figure out just why the average boys score is so much lower than that of the girls.

Education ministers are worried by what they call an "unacceptable" fact - that girls beat boys in their GCSEs. The new findings have stirred up many theories as to why young males seem to be dropping their game.

One of the more interesting ideas comes from Dexter Hutt (no relation of Jabba), a teacher from one of Britain's most famous schools, Ninestiles in Birmingham. He reckons it's all because of football (aka soccer). "They need to raise their game," he said. "The main reason for this is the culture of football that we have.

"A lot of lads are watching a lot of football during the week. I would guess that many boys are spending hours and hours playing Championship Manager on the computer and becoming real experts and it's time that would be better spent on their GCSEs."

Despite his interesting theory, anyone who's played Championship Manager will know how addictive it can be. Another idea being thrown around is that the GCSE courses and final exams are more geared towards girls.

Also, the National Association of head Teachers general secretary, David Hart, wasn't too impressed with the results of young males in Britain: "There is not a cat in hell's chance of significantly reducing the forty per cent of results that are below grade C, unless the boys raise their game. There are no quick-fix solutions to the problems caused by the anti-learning laddish culture."

Anti-learning laddish culture aside, it's hardly a case of who is smarter. Could this news be a serious cause for concern for Great Britain, or is it just a flash in pan? Will the boys bounce back in years to come, or is this an unnerving trend?

Government types in the UK are playing down the figures, some putting it down simply to maturity - which does make a fair bit of sense. Some groups in Britain are saying it's completely normal and just a part of a youthful male culture, which puts other aspects of life before study - such as sport, entertainment and yes, even romance.

Interestingly, some new studies from across the Pacific ocean, in America, suggest that boys study much better, and achieve vastly improved results when separated from the girls at unisex schools during specific classes. This does raise the question of distractions - are the boys from the UK just too distracted by their female classmates?

At the end of the day, you'd have to assume that it's just a bad few years for the boys, and one would assume that this would be the view of most. Still, it does create a little cause for concern - can something like this happen in Australia?

There are still many schools in Britian who recorded an equal split of score results between the boys and the girls - which then begs question, why aren't there comparisons between regions, as opposed to boys vs girls?