As it happened: Top GCSE grades rise after year of Covid disruption - BBC News
Pupils achieve another set of record grades, in the second year of Covid disruption to exams.
The gap is widening between girls and boys' results at GCSE level in England Image caption: The gap is widening between girls and boys' results at GCSE level in England

In English GCSE, girls achieved almost a third of the top grades, compared to less than a fifth of their male counterparts.

Asked about the gap between boys and girls, Sir Daniel Moynihan, CEO of the Harris chain of academies in London says boys "traditionally pull it out of the bag" for exams, while girls are typically "more steady, more hardworking".

He says the switch - during the pandemic - to more assessment-based marking has not played in boys' favour.

"Unfortunately for boys, this year... the option of pulling it out of the bag at the last moment for an exam has been taken away," Sir Dan tells Radio 4's World At One.

He adds: "So we need more work with boys in order to do something about that approach."

The latest results show girls continuing to move ahead of boys at GCSE stage, with 33.4% of girls' results were grade 7/A, compared to 24.4% for boys.

Skills minister Gillian Keegan concedes "girls outperforming boys" at school is not what the government wants to see and acknowledges "it has been happening for a while".

"But I think, any gaps between girls and boys... you can certainly see that they are equalled out later on. And certainly when it comes to university, jobs - look at the top jobs and the people that hold them in the country - those gaps are overcome."