Recent Trends in Educational Achievement: Social Class, Gender and Ethnicity

Russell Haggar

Site Owner

Recent Trends in Educational Achievement: Social Class, Gender, and Ethnicity

In a previous version of this page, I provided some long-run data and more recent data on relationships between Social Class, Gender, and Ethnicity. IN this new page I concentrate only on the more recent data but if you wish to access long-run data you may still access the original page with the original long term data here.

Main Sources of Data

 

I also use , JCQ data on GCSE and GCE Advanced Level Results, FFT educationdatalab blog,  and HESA data on Higher Education.  [Once you reach the JCQ site Click on Examination results, choose year and A Level or GCSE. Then choose A Level other results information or GCSE other results information and follow subsequent links]

 

Social Class and Educational Achievement

In recent years educational statistics have been published which indicate differences in educational achievement as between students eligible and ineligible for free school meals. Free school meal eligibility is a far from perfect measure of social class membership, but the statistics certainly do indicate that material deprivation has major effects on educational achievement.

Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

Key Stage 4 Educational Attainment Levels 2018/19- 2022/23

Click here  for Key Stage Four Performance 2022/23

Click here for FSM eligibility 2018/19- 2022/2023

Pupil attainments at Key Stage 4 are now assessed in terms of a variety of criteria as is indicated in the above table but on each criterion pupils on free school meals academic achievements are lower than those of all other students.

In this detailed table you will see a KS4 national characteristics summary from which from which I have extracted the following data on the FSM gap  and the gender gap in educational achievement at KS4 .

FSM Eligibility, Gender, and Key Stage 4 Attainment Levels 2018/19- 2021/22: Average Attainment 8 scores and Percentages of Pupils Achieving Grades 4 or better and Grades 5 or better in English and Mathematics GCSEs

 

FSM FSM all other Boys Girls
Average Attainment 8 score of all pupils 2018/19 34.9 48.6 44.0 49.5
Average Attainment 8 score of all pupils 2021/22 36.9 51.9 46.3 51.4
Average Attainment 8 score of all pupils 2022/23 34.7 49.5 43.9 48.5
Percentage of pupils achieving Grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSE 2018/19 41.4 69.4 61.0 68.4
Percentage of pupils achieving Grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSE 2021/22 47.0 74.5 66.2 71.5
Percentage of pupils achieving Grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSE 2022/23 42.7 71.3 62.4 67.4
Percentage of pupils achieving Grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSE 2018/19 22.5 46.6 40.0 46.6
Percentage of pupils achieving Grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSE 2021/22 28.4 55.4 47.0 52.7
Percentage of pupils achieving Grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSE 2022/23 24.9 51.0 43.0 47.2

 

Activity Using information in the above table on Gender, Free School Meal Eligibility and Educational Attainment answer the following questions.

  1. What was the Attainment 8 gap between FSM eligible pupils and all other pupils in 2022/23?
  2. What was the Attainment8 gap between girls and boys in 2022/23?
  3. What was the gap in achievement of Grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSE in 2022/23 between FSM eligible and all other pupils?
  4.  What was the gap in achievement of Grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSE in 2022/23 between girls and boys?
  5. Which factor is the more significant influence on educational achievement:  Gender or Free School Meal Eligibility?

 

A Level and other 16 to 18 results:

 

Click here for A level and other 16-18 results: 2023 [provisional revised]  and  click here for a table on A Level  results of students eligible and not eligible for free school meals. There is an attainment gap of approximately one half of a grade per A Level subject . Click here for similar data on disadvantaged and non- disadvantaged students.

 

 

Social Class and Higher Education

Click here for Widening Participation in Higer Education2021/22 published July 2023

This is a most excellent publication with superb charts and tables. You can create direct links to the information you require, and I have used this facility here.

Click here for FSM eligibility and Access to Higher Education  and  here for FSM eligibility and Access to Higher Education [High Tariff]

Click here  and scroll down to Widening Participation for HESA data on   UK domiciled full-time HE undergraduate student enrolments by participation characteristics:

 

In the following table I have combined data from the 2021 Census [England and Wales] and from 2020/21HESA {UK]. Since the geographical coverage of the two sets of data differs and since the Census data also includes Students as a separate occupational category the two sets of data are not fully comparable, but they do give some indication of the relationships between parental social class and their children’s access to higher education.

NS SEC Classification Census 2021 [England and Wales HESA Data 2020/21 [UK]
Higher managerial, administrative, and professional occupations 13.1% 25%.
Lower managerial, administrative, and professional occupations 19.9% 26%
Intermediate occupations 11.4% 14%
Small employers and own account workers 10.6% 8%
Lower supervisory and technical occupations 5.4% 8%
Semi-routine occupations 11.4% 13%
Routine occupations 12.1% 8%
Never worked and long term unemployed 8.5% 1%
Students 7.7%

Based on these data Children from NS Sec Classes One and Two are clearly over-represented in HE. No surprise there then!

 

Gender and Educational Achievement

Recent GCSE Results

The JCQ Presents full data on GCSE and GCE Advanced level entries and results subdivided by the separate countries of the UK, regions of England and the age and gender of candidates. However, data are not presented for candidates who do not identify as male or female.

In the following table Black data refer to All UK students and the blue data refer to English Students aged 16

Percentages of Male and Female Students and GCSE Examination Grades Cumulative Percentages UK 2016-2023.

You will see that comparing data for the years 2019 and 2023 the pass rates for English 16 year olds are slightly higher than for all UK students but that the gender gaps in each case are very similar or, indeed, identical.

 

2016 2017 2018 2019 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2023
1/G or above Females 98.8 98.9 98.8 98.8 98.9 99.7 99.2 98.9 98.4 98.6
1/G or above Males 98.0 97.9 97.8 97.8 98.0 99.5 98.7 98.7 97.5 97.6
1/G F-M Gender Gap 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.9 1.0
4/C or above Females 71.3 71.0 71.4 71.7 74.3 80.2 80.6 76.7 71.7 73.7
4/C or above Males 62.4 61.5 62.3 62.9 65.5 72.3 73.6 69.8 64.9 66.9
4/C F-M Gender Gap 8.9 9.5 9.1 8.9 8.8 7.9 7.0 6.9 6.8 6.8
7/A or above Females 24.1 23.6 23.7 24.1 25.1 30.2 33.4 30.0 24.9 25.3
7/A or above Males 16.8 16.3 17.2 17.6 18.6 22.2 24.4 22.6 19.1 19.5
7/A F-M Gender Gap 7.3 7.3 6.5 6.5 6.5 8.0 9.0 7.4 5.8 5.8

 

UK data for all candidates of all ages indicate that females outperform males at GCSE level in terms of percentages of entrants gaining grades 7/A or above, Grades 4/C or above and grades 1/G and above. Approximately 85% of all UK GCSE candidates are English 16 year olds which means that UK and English results are likely to be quite similar and there is also a relatively small difference between the results of All UK entrants and the results of English 16 year olds as is indicated in the following table for the years of 2019 and 2023.

The table indicates that for all UK entrants the gender gap as measured by the percentages of entrants gaining grade 7/A or above was gradually narrowing prior to 2019 but that it widened when examinations were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 but then narrowed again once examinations were reintroduced in 2022 and 2023. This Guardian article notes that this was also the case for English 16 year olds and suggests that this shows that the cancellation of examination results slightly favoured female students and that the reintroduction of examinations slightly favoured male students.

However, the data in the above table also indicate that in terms of UK students of all ages attaining grades 4/C or above the gender gap narrowed when examinations were discontinued and continued to fall in 2022 but not 2023. You may also click here for an article from FFT educationdatalab scroll down about 70%]  which in the section on Gender and GCSE results shows that for UK 16 year olds trends in the gender gap have varied depending upon whether one considers entrants gaining grades 7/A or higher or grades 4/C or higher. The devil, once again, appears to be in the detail.

However, in broad terms the Gender Gap for UK students has narrowed considerably between 2016 and 2023 and this is true whether it is measured in terms of grade 7/A and above or grade 4/C and above and the Guardian and FFT educationdatalab articles show that this is also the case for English and UK and 16 year olds.

 

Gender and Recent GCE Advanced Level Results UK 2010-2023

2010 2011 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Female A*-E 98.1 98.3 98.5 98.3 98.1 98 99.8 99.6 96.7 97.7
Male A*-E 97 97.3 97.6 97.3 97.1 97 99.7 99.3 96.1 96.8
Female A*-C 77.7 78.4 79.7 79.3 78.7 77.6 89.8 90.7 64.3 78
Male A*-C 72.7 73.7 75 75.3 75.1 73.7 85.6 85.9 60.4 73.6
Female A*/A 27.9 27.7 26 26.1 26.2 25.5 40 46.9 37.4 27.5
Male A*/A 26.1 26.2 25.7 26.6 26.6 25.4 36.7 42.1 36.2 26.9
Female A* 8.3 8.2 7.7 7.8 7.6 7.5 14.5 19.7 14.8 8.8
Male A* 7.9 8.2 8.5 8.8 8.5 8.2 14.3 18.4 14.4 9.1

 

Click here  to download diagrammatic presentation of these data.

Click here  for another useful source for Gender and Recent GCE Advanced Level Results.

Gender and Subject Choice at GCE Advanced Level

Click here for Gender and A Level Subject Choice: 10 most popular subjects.

Click here for Gender and A Level Subject Choice: STEM subjects.

Gender and Higher Education

Click here for Widening Participation in Higer Education

Click here for Gender and Higher Education Progression Rate and here Gender and Higher Education Progression Rate [High Tariff]

Click here  for HESA and scroll down to Personal Characteristics

In 2021/22 there were 1,284,370 females [59%], 891,900 males [41%] and 6,295] other students [0%] domiciled in the UK studying at all levels in UK universities.  When Foreign domiciled students are included the statistics were1,633,425 females [57%] 1221,700 males [43%], and 7410 other students [0%]

There are significant gender differences in Higher Education Subject Choice as is shown in the following HESA data for 2021/22. [The data refer to all levels of study: i.e. to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. You may click here and scroll down to HE enrolments by subject of study for a more detailed breakdown.

Subject Female Male Other Not known Total
01 Medicine and dentistry 51,095 30,390 180 0 81,665
02 Subjects allied to medicine 291,555 74,125 530 0 366,210
03 Biological and sport sciences 58,155 59,030 325 0 117,505
04 Psychology 114,000 25,975 450 0 140,425
05 Veterinary sciences 10,035 2,070 40 0 12,145
06 Agriculture, food and related studies 12,575 7,035 50 0 19,660
07 Physical sciences 29,300 37,670 240 0 67,205
09 Mathematical sciences 17,435 29,560 150 0 47,145
10 Engineering and technology 37,965 147,455 300 0 185,725
11 Computing 37,305 126,465 485 0 164,260
13 Architecture, building and planning 24,410 39,105 95 0 63,610
26 Geography, earth and environmental studies (natural sciences) 17,635 15,500 85 0 33,220
Total science CAH level 1 701,460 594,385 2,920 0 1,298,765
15 Social sciences 190,485 95,140 705 0 286,325
16 Law 90,625 51,540 160 0 142,330
17 Business and management 249,135 280,875 450 0 530,460
19 Language and area studies 63,445 23,675 675 0 87,795
20 Historical, philosophical and religious studies 45,940 36,705 435 0 83,085
22 Education and teaching 105,660 30,005 290 0 135,960
23 Combined and general studies 29,480 18,045 120 0 47,645
24 Media, journalism and communications 28,980 18,950 205 0 48,135
25 Design, and creative and performing arts 121,205 67,275 1,415 0 189,890
26 Geography, earth and environmental studies (social sciences) 7,010 5,185 35 0 12,225
Total non-science CAH level 1 931,965 627,395 4,490 0 1,563,850
Total 1,633,425 1,221,780 7,410 0 2,862,620

 

Ethnicity and Educational Achievement

In 2023 I produced a new separate document on Ethnicity and Educational Achievement Data which you may access here. Information is provided on ethnicity and school readiness and ethnicity and educational achievement at Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4, GCE Advanced Level and Higher Education Level. Interconnections between ethnicity, gender and free school meal eligibility are also considered in some detail.

GCSE and GCE Advanced Level Results:  Different Types of School

Click here for Ofqual graphics on GCSE results in England by centre type and here for GCSE outcomes in England 2008- 2023 and here for regional data   and more

Click here for Ofqual Graphics on GCE Advanced Level results by centre type.

Media Coverage of the 2023 GCE Advanced Level and GCSE Examinations

GCE Advanced Level Examinations

Click here for FFT educationdatalab which has very detailed coverage.

Click here for The Guardian A levels page.

Click here for response to GCE A Level results by Professor Lee Elliot Major

Click here for analysis of A Level results by Toby Helm [ with link to OFQUAL graphics]

Click here for the OFQUAL graphics

Click here for Disadvantaged students to bear brunt of grade deflation say experts.

Click here and here  and here for BBC coverage but note that although females outperformed Males in A*/A grades, males outperformed females in A* grades in the UK

Click here for Channel 4 coverage [16 minutes]

GCSE Examinations

Click here and here  for BBC coverage.

Click here for the Guardian GCSE page and here and here and here  and here for more Guardian coverage.

Click here for FFT educationdatalab preamble to publication of GCSE results.

Click here for FFT educationdatalab detailed analysis of GCSE results.

Click here for Schools Week analysis

Click here for Observer article on examination results and the North- South divide 2023 [GCSE and A Level]