Top sets- girl or boy heavy?

[Hakluyt]

I've just been chatting to ds and his friend. The friend goes to a grammar, ds to a high school (aka secondary modern).

Ds says that the top sets in his school are almost all girls- friend says that at the grammar the classes are roughly 50:50.

Which got me thinking. Both schools are roughly 50:50 so does that mean that the "bright children do well wherever they go" applies to girls more than boys? Or what else might it mean?

My DD's at a comp, but as she's not in top sets, I can't add any data!

My DC are at a mixed comp that streams from the start. Top streams are about 50:50 afaik. Once they set for GCSE, I think maths slightly boy heavy, vv for English.

Sorry to skew your stats but DD1 is at - and DD2 is about to start at - an all-girl comp (bizarrely there are a few single-sex comps round here. It wasn't a deliberate choice).

Packed with geeky bright girls, btw.

That doesn't apply in our area- the number of places is, once again, theoretically 50:50.

Which means the girls need a higher score to go because girls do better in tests/exams.

If you had a true, 'pass this test and you go to this school' it would be a 60/40 girl/boy ratio.

I have top set year 10 next year for Science, massively girl heavy, 2nd set about 65%girls, and the boys kick in from set 3

I will ask dd when she gets home later.

My state school was single sex, so I'm no use. Interesting theory though.

Surely the top sets in a secondary modern are presumably more or less (because in a grammar/secondary modern system there isn't much flexibility) the same children who would be in middle sets in a comprehensive.

Historically boys do better in exams whilst girls excell at coursework.

That's simply not true.

Girls have only not done well in exams when they have not been allowed to study certain subjects.

dd says English is very girl heavy, French reflects the balance in her year (slightly girl heavy). Maths and science slightly boy heavy.
Comprehensive.

DD at non selective independent (small) just done gcses. Pretty small year but even girls/boys. I have just asked her, and the maths and science top sets were very very boy top heavy. Weirdly this year they set English as two parallel boys and girls sets, with a third (lower) mixed set. Boys and girls achieve well at this school. It is not uncool to do well academically. I noticed at prize giving in July a pretty even boy girl mix. Doesn't add much to your debate OP but interesting!

My Grandparents who clocked up more than 80 years teaching experience between them, always used to say that boys were spread throughout the ability spectrum , whereas the girls distribution tends to more bunched around teh middle.

I teach at a secondary in a town with a boys grammar and a girls grammer, so the best of both genders have been creamed off effectively. My school has worked hard over the last few years to stop being boy biased which is working so most years are evenly split now.
For last year our top sets in Maths were
Yr 11 53% boys, Yr 10 47% boys, Year 9 53% boys, Year 8 38% boys, Year 7 59% boys.

Year 8 and Year 7 are now set differently to the other year groups and the year 8 one looks a bit of an annomally.