Girls beat boys in infant classes

Statistics confirm girls are ahead of boys throughout school

Girls in England are ahead of boys in their educational achievements from the very earliest years, new figures show.

The first ever national statistics showing "foundation stage" attainment indicate more girls than boys met or exceeded the early learning goals.

The data are based on reception class teachers' assessments of their four and five year olds in 2003.

Teachers' unions have denounced the exercise as overly bureaucratic, unwieldy and unhelpful.

The Department for Education and Skills stresses that the figures, relating to more than half a million children, are "experimental".

Personal development

They come from 12-page paper booklets teachers have to fill in, making 117 separate judgements of what children can do.

These are grouped into 13 categories under headings such as personal, social and emotional development and mathematical development.

In every single category, the 2003 results show, girls are on average ahead of boys in meeting or exceeding the goals - as is the case throughout England's school system in almost every subject.

The difference is biggest in the personal, social and emotional development categories, where the gaps are 12 or 13 percentage points.

The other big gap is in their writing ability - 12 points on average.

Only in knowledge and understanding of the world do boys come close, though there is still a gap of two percentage points.

'No plans for tables'

Teachers' unions object to the publication of the statistics, suspecting that it may be the first step towards yet another set of "league tables" for schools.

The inspectorate, Ofsted, also recently said the profile scheme did not "fit the bill" in its current form, was too "bureaucratic and time consuming" and failed to provide parents and teachers with the information they needed.

In this first release, the department has produced only a national overview, based on returns from all the local education authorities - there is no breakdown by authority, let alone by school.

And it stresses that there are no tests for five year olds, and that there are no plans for league tables.

In order to make this profile meaningful to parents, teachers are having to put comments in to translate it Head teacher David Tuck Schools' profile complaints

It believes the national figures will be helpful for schools and for parents to compare their children's progress against the averages.

On one crude reading of the figures, about half of all children are not meeting the expected level - but the Department for Education and Skills statisticians insist it is not valid to average the various categories in that way.

The statistics are divided into 10 bands, from zero to nine.

Children achieving 0 - 3 are said to be working towards the early learning goals.

A score of 4 - 7 indicates working "within" the goals - and the department said a child scoring 6 was achieving the majority of them.

A score of 8 - 9 indicates children met or were working beyond the goals.

'Inconsistent'

The general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Mary Bousted, said the data were "unreliable and unhelpful".

"The profile was implemented inconsistently because teachers received material, training and moderation at different times.

"Publishing data from a pilot year is an unnecessary pressure on teachers who are doing their best to implement a new system under difficult circumstances," she said.

"ATL questions the financial costs of producing data that will not be useful to either parents or a child's next teacher."

The Liberal Democrat education spokesman, Phil Willis, said: "Small children will learn much more about their environment from having fun, than from being tested by teachers who are overburdened by pointless bureaucracy."

The table below shows the percentage of children achieving the various scale scores: 0-3 = working below the goals, 4-7 = working "within" them, 8-9 = meeting or working above. Category key below.

Scores:	0-3			4-7			8-9
Categories	girls	boys	gap	girls	boys	gap	girls	boys	gap
PSE: DA	2	3	-1	34	45	-11	64	51	13
PSE: SD	3	7	-4	39	47	-8	58	46	12
PSE: ED	4	8	-4	34	44	-10	61	48	13
CLL: LCT	5	9	-4	40	47	-7	55	44	11
CLL: LSL	14	21	-7	45	48	-3	41	31	10
CLL: R	5	9	-4	52	56	-4	43	35	8
CLL: W	10	19	-9	51	56	-5	38	26	12
MAT: NLC	3	5	-2	36	39	-3	60	55	5
MAT: C	10	14	-4	46	46	0	44	40	4
MAT: SSM	5	7	-2	44	46	-2	52	47	5
KUW	6	8	-2	42	42	0	52	50	2
PD	3	5	-2	29	39	-10	68	56	12
CD	3	6	-3	39	51	-12	58	42	16

KEY:
Personal, social and emotional development
PSE: DA = Dispositions and attitudes
PSE: SD = Social development
PSE: ED = Emotional development
Communication, language and literacy
CLL: LCT = Language for communication and thinking
CLL: LSL = Linking sounds and letters
CLL: R = Reading
CLL: W = Writing
Mathematical development
MAT: NLC = Numbers as labels for counting
MAT: C = Calculating
MAT: SSM = Shape, space and measures

KUW = Knowledge and understanding of the world
PD = Physical development
CD = Creative development

Source: Department for Education and Skills