Why boys are better at exams

By Cole Moreton

“It depends on the subject discipline,” says Mike Nicholson, the director of undergraduate admissions. “We have generally seen male students tend to be much more prepared to take risks, which is why they do well in exams. 

“Generally, female students are risk-averse, and will tend to take longer to think about an answer. If it’s a multiple-choice question, male students will generally go with their gut feeling. Girls will try and reason it out.” 

What impact does that have on the results? “Obviously, if you are using timed multiple-choice assessments, that has a bearing on the likelihood of the female students even finishing the section, when the boys have whizzed through it.” 

He admits to talking in “broad brush strokes” — but Thursday’s A-level results revealed that seven out of 10 students who sat English papers this year were girls, while eight out of 10 in physics exams were boys. There was an increase in both trends, widening the gender gap in a year when record numbers of students passed their A-levels. 

Most university admissions offices are frantically busy with clearing and adjustment, but the dull grey block where Mr Nicholson is based is eerily quiet. 

“Phones will be ringing off the hook elsewhere,” says the 44-year-old, who was recruited from the University of Essex in 2006. 

“We put so much of our effort into selecting students when they first apply, we don’t need to do an awful lot at this end of the process.” 

There were 17,500 applications for 3,200 places at Oxford this year. Almost everyone offered a place accepts it. 

“Our main aim at this point is to stop people getting in touch with us if they want to come here through adjustment. We don’t have any vacancies.” 

The lull gives him a chance to talk frankly about the way the education system is working — or not. “The issue with teachers is that there has never been a period of stability in what they are expected to teach,” he says. 

“The reforms in 2010 introduced things like extended projects and the A-star grade, which were very good changes, but they are still bedding down. Now we are already talking about new change for 2015.” 

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, plans to scrap the AS-level which assesses students in the first year of sixth form. Cambridge University is strongly opposed to the move, saying it offers a useful pointer to what the student might achieve — and on behalf of Oxford, he agrees. 

“It is really helpful for many students to have a checkpoint part way through their studies to get a handle on how well they are doing.” If they are not assessed then, there is “a tendency to take their foot off the gas”. 

Crucially, he says, good AS results can be a revelation to those who think that studying somewhere like Oxford is beyond them. 

“They only begin to think about it once they’ve got a string of As at that level. It gives them the confidence to think Oxford is within their reach. Our biggest concern is that the proposed reforms could undo an awful lot of work that has been going on in the higher education sector to encourage students.” 

Most of all, though, Mr Nicholson wants the Government to stop changing the goalposts. “If schools were left to get on with their job, and teachers were supported and recognised for the professionals that they are, then actually we would probably be fine.” 

So we’re not fine, then? “Attainment is not evenly spread.” 

The divide between North and South is growing, says Mr Nicholson. 

“Eight per cent of students in Newcastle last year got three As or better at A-level,” he says. “In Reading, it was 35 per cent. There were nine kids in Hartlepool who got three As. There were over a thousand kids in Hampshire who did the same.” 

That’s because the population is not evenly spread, he says, and educationalists need to acknowledge it. 

“It’s fair to say that a student who achieves three A-stars at GCSE in a school where nobody has ever achieved one, ever, is probably showing more potential than a student who does the same in a highly-selective academic school, where most of their students are getting six, seven, eight A-stars. We take that into account.” 

Mr Nicholson went to a comprehensive in Gateshead and was the first in his family to go to university. He read history and English at Sheffield, before beginning a career in education that included 20 years at Essex. He doesn’t look much like a don, in his open-necked shirt. 

“Frankly, this is quite an intimidating place,” he admits. “I came here at 38 as the director of admissions, and I was intimidated. You look at the buildings. It’s a place that has got a lot of history and a lot of prestige. It’s a bit overwhelming at times.” 

A fresh eye was what they wanted. “I came in with a brief to look at what we did from an external perspective, because I had not been part of the system.” Currently, at Oxford, 58 per cent of the UK intake is from the state system and 42 per cent is independently-educated. 

“We are actually more about asking: 'How many students from disadvantaged backgrounds are we supporting?’,” he says. 

“One of the least-known facts about Oxford is that 10 per cent of our students come from households with incomes under £16,000. 

“Even more interestingly, 30 per cent of those students are independently educated. They are on an academic scholarship at an independent school - so if we were to have a bias against independent schools, we would be running the risk of losing some excellent students who are there on academic merit, where the social mobility has been provided by their education.” 

The university was accused of being biased the other way a few days ago, when it emerged through a Freedom of Information Act request that students with A-star results at A-level were nine per cent more likely to be accepted at Oxford if they came from independent schools. 

This is misleading, says Mr Nicholson. “At the point we are making our decision, we don’t know who has got the A-stars. All we can go on is predictions. The story did not take into account any of the other factors we use to select students.” 

Oxford chooses the next generation of undergraduates before they have even taken their A-levels, through aptitude tests that they sit in their schools, followed by interviews specific to their subject. “Contrary to the myth, those are not about whether you know how to use a fork correctly. 

“It’s, 'so, you want to be an engineer? Tell me how you would build a bridge.’” 

Those who get through tend to achieve the promised grades. 

“We are looking for the best students we can find. It is not in our interests to take students on the basis of anything other than their potential to do incredibly well at Oxford,” says Mr Nicholson. 

“That is not restricted to a particular school type, or social class or ethnicity or background or whether they are from the North or the South. Our entire reputation as a world class university depends on getting the best and the brightest we can.”