The human male is, on most measures, more vulnerable than the female. Part of the explanation is the biological fragility of the male foetus, which is little understood and not widely known. A typical attitude to boys is that they are, or must be made, more resilient than girls. This adds “social insult to biological injury.” Culture and class make a difference to the health and survival of boys.

•Dr Sebastian Kraemer, Tavistock Clinic London, BMJ 2000

•Nationally, boys underperform compared with girls at Foundation Stage Profile and progressively across all key stages, (except for KS2 Maths, which drops back by KS3)

•The gap is widest at GCSE English

•More girls are now securing university places than boys

•In a study of primary school children, all of the girls and none of the boys reported that they were responsible for their learning

•In the face of evidence to the contrary, many boys state that they are better than they really are at school subjects, and apparently see no reason to change-is this a ‘front’?

The importance of writing.

Tackling Underachievement.