Recent data shows boys in years 5 and 9 in England have scored significantly higher than girls in maths and science compared with 2019, report UCL researchers who analysed the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
The findings, which use data from 2023, mirror results for many participating countries, where a gender gap has opened up in favour of boys since the last report, published in 2020 with data from 2019.
For this second research report of the TIMSS 2023 International Report and Results, written by UCL researchers and published by the Department for Education (DfE), the team analysed the data against factors including gender, socioeconomic status, home resources and pupil absenteeism. Over 12,000 schools in 59 countries were assessed in year 5 and over 8,700 schools in 44 countries in year 9 were tested. Global lifelong learning company Pearson carried out testing across 267 schools in England.
Most countries score between 400 and 600 on the TIMSS scale. In maths, boys in England opened up a 26-point difference ahead of girls, scoring 538 versus 512 for girls, a stark difference to 2019 when there was a two-point difference of 516 (boys) to 514. The gap in England is the largest out of any participating country.
Boys also significantly outperformed girls in science in year 9 - with a 14-point lead of 538 to 524 - compared to 2019 where there was a three-point difference with girls ahead 518 (girls) to 515 (boys). Scores for science in year 5 were not significantly different to each other, continuing previous trends.
Principal Investigator Professor Mary Richardson (IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education & Society) said: "Despite efforts within schools, socioeconomic factors are still influencing how many pupils perform in maths and science. Those who have fewer educational resources at home need extra support and awareness in order to access the same opportunities to learn compared as their better-resourced peers."
When looking at socioeconomic factors, the researchers found that pupils who had been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point since 2019 performed worse than non-FSM eligible pupils across the board, for example, scoring on average 490 compared to 540 in science in year 9. This difference was comparable to 2019 scores of 523 for non-FSM pupils and 476 for FSM pupils.
TIMSS uses the number of books at home as a proxy for socioeconomic status. The researchers found a significant gap between pupils who had access to a large number of books at home and those who did not. In year 9 science, pupils in households with fewer than ten books at home scored 461, compared to 601 for those in households with over 200 books at home.
Co-Principal Investigator Dr Jennie Golding (IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education & Society) said: "Over the last 20 years, boys and girls have achieved similar scores in TIMSS in both mathematics and science. It is difficult to say exactly why this gap has opened up, but our findings point to some factors including confidence, a sense of belonging and absenteeism. However, more research is needed to understand the reasons fully and address this problem."
When looking at attitudinal factors such as confidence in their ability, valuing a subject and liking a subject, confidence was the most strongly associated with performance. Across both year groups in maths and in year 9 science, significantly larger percentages of boys reported being very confident on a list of related statements, with the opposite being true for girls - a significantly larger percentage were not confident. For example, in year 9 maths, 21% of boys and 9% of girls reported they were very confident, whereas 38% of boys reported they were not confident compared with 60% of girls.
Dr Grace Grima, the National Research Co-Ordinator for TIMSS 2023 in England, and Director of International Assessments at Pearson said: "Pearson was proud to once again be selected by the Department for Education to deliver the online assessments and questionnaires for this study in schools in England. In this cycle, the international reporting is fully-web-based, allowing users to interact with the data and carry out further exploration of results, beyond what is presented in the national reports."
The TIMSS study, run by the Evaluation of International Achievement (IEA) takes place every four years. England has participated in every cycle since its inception in 1995.
