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Hundreds of thousands of pupils will be waking up to their GCSE results on Thursday.
Students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving GCSE grades and technical awards to help them progress on to sixth form, college or training.
Ahead of results day, education experts have reiterated concerns over the gender gap at GCSE which sees girls consistently outperforming boys.
Last year, the gap between girls and boys at the top grades narrowed.
Nearly a quarter (24.5%) of girls’ GCSE entries were awarded at least a grade 7/A compared with almost a fifth of boys’ entries (19.4%) – a 5.1 percentage point gap.
In 2024, 24.7% of girls’ entries scored one of the top grades, compared to 19.0% of those from boys – a 5.7 percentage point gap.
The Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPRMB) said the disparities at GCSE level, and in education more widely, can mean boys struggle to thrive after leaving school.
CPRMB research officer Martha Lucas told the Press Association: “When around a third of boys’ entries to GCSE are consistently not meeting a grade four each year, which is the standard pass level, it is a massive concern.
“For a lot of employment, meeting that grade four in maths and English is a barrier to finding that employment.
“This year, the number of male Neets (not in education, employment or training) hit more than 500,000.
“So, boys are consistently leaving school without the qualifications nor education necessary for them to thrive in adult life – get a job, be in employment – and quite frankly that desperately needs to change.”
Ms Lucas said the gender gap starts to emerge when children are as young as five, adding that girls are “consistently outperforming boys in education”.
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