WHILE the gender gap in Northern Ireland has widened significantly in favour of girls - UK-wide figures reveal boys have pulled ahead in terms of A*-A grades.
The overall picture for the north, England and Wales combined shows for the first time sine 1999, male students scored more of the top two grades than their female classmates.
Across the UK 26.6 per cent of male entries were handed A*/A, compared to 26.1 per cent of girls' entries. In Northern Ireland alone, the figures were 26.8 per cent male and 33.3 per cent female.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, suggested that reforms in England could have been to the advantage of male sixth-formers.
He said major changes to A-levels back in 2000, which saw a swing towards pupils sitting exams throughout their two-year courses, had benefited girls.
Now that this being reversed by boards in England, it may advantage boys, particularly in terms of top grades (A*-A).
"There's a lot of evidence that boys tend to do better when the exams are at the end rather than when there's continuous assessment throughout the course," he said.
