GCSE gender gap closes as boys play catch up

GCSE gender gap falls to record low as boys continue to close the gap

The long-standing gap between girls’ and boys’ GCSE performance has narrowed to its lowest level on record, with boys making further gains in the highest grades while girls’ results have levelled off.

New GCSE results for 2026 show that 19.6 per cent of boys achieved a grade 7 or above, up slightly from 19.4 per cent in 2025. Excluding the years affected by pandemic grading, it is boys’ strongest performance since 2011.

Girls continue to outperform boys overall, with 24.4 per cent achieving grades 7 to 9. However, that figure has slipped marginally from 24.5 per cent last year and is the lowest recorded since 2019.

The result is a gender attainment gap of just 4.8 percentage points, the smallest since comparable records began in 2001 and the second consecutive year that the gap has narrowed.

Education specialists believe the change reflects a combination of factors, including changes to the GCSE assessment system and the lasting effects of the pandemic on pupils’ wellbeing and attendance.

For many years, girls were thought to benefit from the previous modular GCSE system, where subjects were assessed through separate units over the course of two years. Since modular exams were phased out in favour of linear assessments, with final exams taken at the end of the course, the gender gap has gradually reduced.

The pandemic temporarily reversed that trend. Teacher-assessed grades in 2020 and 2021 produced the widest gender gap on record, with girls significantly outperforming boys. Since formal examinations returned, girls’ share of the top grades has fallen each year while boys have steadily recovered.

The gap in standard passes has also reduced. Girls remain more likely to achieve a grade 4 or above, but the difference has fallen from 6.2 percentage points last year to 5.8 this summer.

Attendance is also believed to have played a role. Recent education data shows that absence rates among girls have risen more sharply than among boys since the pandemic, prompting concerns about the impact of anxiety and other mental health challenges on academic performance.

Boys have also improved their results in some of the country’s most popular GCSE subjects. In combined science, the largest GCSE subject by entries, boys increased their share of the highest grades while girls’ performance dipped slightly. In mathematics, boys recorded a larger improvement than girls in achieving grades 7 to 9.

Across the UK, the overall proportion of GCSE entries awarded grades 7 or above edged up to 22 per cent, compared with 21.9 per cent last year. With more pupils sitting examinations this summer, over 10,000 additional top grades were awarded.

Despite that improvement, the overall pass rate continues to decline in the core subjects. The proportion of pupils achieving at least a grade 4 has fallen slightly to 67.3 per cent, with English language and mathematics both recording lower pass rates than in 2025. Older students resitting these subjects accounted for a significant proportion of the decline.

Regional inequalities remain a major concern. London continues to achieve the highest proportion of top GCSE grades, while the North East records the lowest. The difference between the two regions has widened again, highlighting the continuing influence of where pupils grow up on educational outcomes and future opportunities.

This article is for general information and interest purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice, nor does it necessarily represent the views of HCB.