Last Updated on November 7, 2026 by Karl Thompson
Gender and education for A-level sociology is really three questions: why girls and boys achieve differently, why they choose different subjects, and how gender identities shape (and are shaped by) the experience of school. The grid below covers all three on one page, with the most recent figures, the main explanations, the key studies and the main evaluation points. Each row links to the post that covers it in full.
Gender and education is part of the sociology of education module, examined on AQA Paper 1 (7192/1).
Gender and education: the key figures
| Measure | Girls | Boys | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCSE: gap in grade 5+ in English and maths (2025/26) | 3.1 percentage points in girls’ favour | DfE, KS4 performance | |
| GCSE: gap in average Attainment 8 score (2025/26) | 3.9 points in girls’ favour (5.5 in 2018/19) | DfE, KS4 performance | |
| A-level: A* or A grades, England (2026) | 27.9% | 28.9% | JCQ, reported by Schools Week |
| Entered higher education by age 19 (2023/24) | 52.5% | 39.5% | DfE, Widening participation |
| A-level physics entries (2026) | 24% | 76% | EngineeringUK, from JCQ |
| For comparison: disadvantage gap, grade 5+ English and maths (2025/26) | 26.8 percentage points: nearly nine times the gender gap | DfE, KS4 performance | |
The gender and education summary grid
| Achievement | Subject choice | Gender identity and schooling | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The pattern | Girls have outperformed boys at 16 since the late 1980s, but the gap is narrowing. Boys took slightly more top A-level grades in 2025 and 2026. Girls are much more likely to go to university. | Close to 50:50 where subjects are compulsory; the gap opens with choice. Girls are a quarter of A-level physics entries and a fifth of computing; most entries in subjects like psychology and English literature are from girls. | Pupils actively construct masculine and feminine identities at school. Some identities bring status with peers but conflict with the school. Sexual harassment is widespread: 92% of girls in Ofsted’s 2021 review said sexist name-calling happened to them or their peers. |
| Home and society | Changes in women’s employment; changes in the family; girls’ changing ambitions (Sharpe); feminism; differential socialisation; the crisis of masculinity. | Gender domains (Browne and Ross); canalisation in early socialisation (Oakley); peer pressure. | Peer groups police gender; masculinities and femininities vary by class and ethnicity. |
| In-school | Teacher expectations and labelling; laddish subcultures and the fear of failure (Jackson); the feminisation of education; coursework. | Careers advice and subject counselling; teachers’ biases (Lavy and Sand); gendered subject images (Kelly). | Working-class girls’ identities clashing with the school’s “ideal pupil” (Archer); masculinities (Mac an Ghaill); the hidden curriculum; uniform and dress codes; borderwork (Thorne). |
| Evaluation | The gender gap is far smaller than the class gap. Teacher gender makes no difference to results (Carrington, Tymms and Merrell). Coursework was largely removed and girls stayed ahead. | Changing, but unevenly: computing and engineering degrees are less male than ten years ago, maths degrees more. Girls’ choices lead to lower-paid jobs, which feminists see as the real problem. | Most studies are small and qualitative; several are decades old. Identity seems to affect pupils’ experience of school more clearly than their results. |
| Read more | Explaining the gender gap; in-school factors; boys’ underachievement | Gender and subject choice | Gender identity and education; gender socialisation in schools |
Two further posts cut across all three columns: the feminist perspective on education (liberal, radical and Black feminist views of all of the above) and education policy and gender.
Using the grid in the exam
Most exam questions on gender sit in one column, but the best answers use the other two. An essay on achievement can use subject choice to explain the A-level pattern (boys are concentrated in maths and further maths, which award a high proportion of top grades), and identity to explain laddish subcultures. And the evaluation row is your AO3: the class comparison in the first column is the single most useful evaluation point in the whole topic.
The real AQA questions on gender so far:
- June 2017, Q02: Outline three ways in which factors within schools may shape gender differences in subject choice. [6 marks] (see my guide to the 4 and 6 mark questions)
- June 2018, Q02: Outline three reasons for gender differences in educational achievement. [6 marks]
- June 2020 (sat November 2020), Q04: Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of gender differences in educational achievement. [30 marks] (full answer)
- June 2022, Q02: Outline three ways in which the education system may be seen as patriarchal. [6 marks] (answer on the feminist perspective post)
- June 2024, Q03: Applying material from Item A, analyse two problems girls may experience as a result of relationships and processes in schools. [10 marks] ([LINK NEEDED: June 2024 Q03 post])
- June 2025, Q03: Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which relationships and processes within schools may lead to gender differences in educational achievement. [10 marks] ([LINK NEEDED: June 2025 Q03 post])
- AQA specimen paper, Q04: Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the view that gender differences in both subject choice and educational achievement are mainly the result of the influence of wider society. [30 marks]
For a checklist of everything you need to know for this topic, see the gender and education knowledge checklist. For the same kind of grid comparing the perspectives on the role of education, see my sociological perspectives on education summary grid.
Sociology of Education Revision Bundle
If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my sociology of education revision notes bundle, written by Karl Thompson, who taught A-level sociology for eighteen years and spent twelve as an AQA examiner, marking all three papers on the current specification.
Signposting
This post has been written primarily for students revising the gender and education topic for AQA A-level sociology Paper 1 (7192/1). More on this topic on my main sociology of education page.
Please click here to return to the homepage – ReviseSociology.com
Sources
- Department for Education, Key stage 4 performance, 2025/26 (15 October 2026)
- Department for Education, Widening participation in higher education, 2023/24 (31 July 2025)
- Schools Week (August 2026) A-level results 2026: 6 key trends in this year’s data, from JCQ data
- EngineeringUK (August 2026) A level and Scottish Highers results 2026
- Ofsted, Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges (10 June 2021)
- AQA A-level Sociology 7192/1 question papers, June 2017 to June 2025, and the specimen paper. AQA material is reproduced for educational purposes.
Heya
Thank you very much, | kinda didn’t find my notes about this subtopic and it was really helpful. Thank you! 🙂