Primary Education: Standards
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential reasons for the attainment gap between boys and girls at the end of Key Stage 2.
Answered by Georgia Gould
All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed. However, the department knows that, on average, attainment for boys is lower than girls and we continue to monitor this at all key stages.
Although the gap has narrowed slightly from 2024, provisional 2025 key stage 2 data shows girls continue to outperform boys at the expected standard in all subjects, except for mathematics.
High and rising standards are key to strengthening outcomes and closing gaps for every child and young person. The department is driving improvements through new regional improvement in standards and excellence teams, the Curriculum and Assessment Review and support to boost primary literacy, including the publication of the Writing Framework and with additional phonics to fluency reading support.
Building on this, our upcoming Schools White Paper will set out our vision for a system that drives educational excellence for every child no matter who they are.
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