Girls still top of the Junior Cert class

GIRLS have again outperformed boys in the Junior Cert.

They got more A and B grades and were also less likely to fail an exam.

The trend is confirmed in a gender breakdown of the results issued to 56,930 candidates this week by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).

At higher level, the only subjects where boys achieved more A grades were maths, metalwork and environmental and social studies.

Using English at higher level as an example, 14pc of girls notched up an A, against 7pc of boys. Across the honours grades, 84pc of girls achieved an A, B or C, compared to 71pc of boys.

Even though boys scored more As in maths, girls picked up on the Bs and Cs, with 81pc getting an honour, compared to 79pc of boys.

Boys tend to dominate in the middle ground, C and D grades and also recorded more fails in all subjects except metalwork and technology.

The picture is broadly similar at ordinary level, with female students achieving more A grades in all subjects, except metalwork and technology. Males also registered more fails at ordinary level.

The slight advantage enjoyed by boys in terms of As for maths at higher level is not repeated at ordinary level, with 14pc of girls scoring an A compared with 11pc of boys.

- Katherine Donnelly

Irish Independent