Attainment 8 scores are based on the highest scores achieved by pupils at GCSE on eight subjects.
So, I was just reading the Times articles today about their new School League Tables (based solely on A level and GCSE grades and the equivalent in Scotland) and they mentioned that single sex schools generally come out on top.
This got me thinking about other issues that affect these figures. There is a separate score called Progress 8 that is a sort of "value-added" score that compares GCSE performance to Key Stage 2 performance but that is only published for English state schools.
But another factor that affects things is certainly gender.
I then noticed that the government released figures a few weeks ago split by gender and ethnicity for GCSEs taken in 2022 and I just thought it was an interesting study.
https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/11-to-16-years-old/gcse-results-attainment-8-for-children-aged-14-to-16-key-stage-4/latest
In 2022, the average Attainment 8 score was 48.8 out of a maximum of 90. With boys scoring an average of 46.3 and girls 51.4
They also split it down by ethnicity, Chinese and Indian boys did very well, others not so much:-
Chinese girls 68.9
Indian girls 63.6
Chinese boys 63.5
Other Asian girls 60.0
Indian boys 59.1
White Irish girls 57.8
Mixed white & Asian girls 57.5
Bangladeshi girls 56.6
Black African girls 54.5
Other Asian boys 54.3
Other Mixed girls 53.9
Other White girls 53.2
Other girls 52.9
Mixed white & Asian boys 52.3
Bangladeshi boys 52.2
Pakistani girls 51.9
White Irish boys 51.8
Mixed white & black African girls 51.8
Other Black girls 51.4
White British girls 50.2
Other Mixed boys 48.6
Other White boys 48.4
Black African boys 47.3
Other boys 46.8
Pakistani boys 46.4
Mixed white & black African boys 46.2
Black Caribbean girls 45.6
White British boys 45.3
Mixed white & black Caribbean girls 45.1
Unknown girls 45.1
Other Black boys 42.7
Unknown boys 40.5
Mixed white & black Caribbean boys 39.0
Black Caribbean boys 37.9
Irish Traveller girls 33.2
Irish Traveller boys 24.3
Gypsey or Roma girls 23.6
Gypsey or Roma boys 18.3