Exam body considers single-sex courses

The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) yesterday confirmed that it is looking at introducing exams that play to different strengths.

This could mean that boys are offered the chance to sit exams while girls have more coursework.

Research has suggested that boys prefer traditional exam-based courses while girls prefer coursework.

Bill Alexander, AQA's director of curriculum and assessment, said: "We could offer a route for boys that is very different to a route for girls.

"Girls tend to perform better with coursework while boys do better with end-of-year exams.

"So we are pursuing that in science to see if we could have an option in science where we might have a straightforward examination for boys but a possibility of having a coursework option for girls."

He added that the AQA would not restrict who could enter which type of course.

John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said: "It is extremely dangerous to get into gender stereotyping. There are lots of boys who like the investigative element of coursework as well."

An AQA spokeswoman said the move is just one idea of how to introduce flexibility into exams.

The AQA's new Key Stage 4 (GCSE-level) qualifications in English, maths and science could be available for teaching in September next year.

A study of 7,000 pupils learning French in Denmark found that class sizes do affect achievement, with youngsters taught in small groups scoring higher in end-of-school exams.

Some boys benefit more than girls from smaller classes, as do academically weaker pupils, according to the research published by the Royal Economic Society in the latest issue of the Economic Journal.