Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current interventions aimed at reducing the attainment gap between boys and girls at a) primary and b) secondary school.

All children and young people should have every opportunity to achieve and thrive. However, the department knows that on average attainment for boys is lower than girls.

Although the gap between boys and girls at both primary and secondary has narrowed from 2024, there is more to do, and the department continues to monitor this at all key stages.

High and rising standards across education are key to strengthening outcomes and closing these gaps.

The department is driving improvements through new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system, and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers in schools and colleges over the course of this parliament. We have also committed £27.7 million to drive standards in reading and writing and will launch the National Year of Reading 2026 with a focus on teenage boys.

Building on this, the upcoming Schools White Paper will set out the department’s vision for a school system that drives educational excellence for every child regardless of background or circumstance.