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Caoimhe Daly, Niamh McAdams and Anna Woods from Loreto College in Dublin celebrate receiving their Junior Cert results on Wednesday. Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

Junior Cert results: Girls outperform boys in 20 out of 23 subjects

Only the stereotypically male strongholds of Maths and Metalwork see boys have a higher proportion of A grades than girls.

A NEW BREAKDOWN of the results obtained by nearly 59,000 students in this year’s Junior Certificate results has revealed that the nation’s girls have once again consistently outperformed their male counterparts.

Figures to be published today by the State Examinations Commission reveal that out of 23 subjects offered in this year’s Junior Cert which were sat by more by ten students at honours level, no fewer than 20 subjects saw girls more likely to achieve an A grade than boys.

In language subjects, meanwhile, the failure rates among male students was consistently higher than among their female rivals.

The gap between the sexes is largest in Civic, Social and Political Education, a subject taken by all Junior Cert students at the same ‘common’ level (meaning there are no ‘higher’ or ‘ordinary’ level papers).

In that subject – which aims to teach students basic knowledge about the political and courts systems – 29.6 per cent of all female candidates managed an A grade, compared to just 14.3 per cent of their male colleagues.

Other subjects including Latin, Arts Crafts and Design, Home Economics and Technology saw gaps of greater than 10 per cent between the proportion of girls who were awarded As, and the proportion of boys who earned similar marks.

In only two subjects – the stereotypically male strongholds of Metalwork and Mathematics – did a higher proportion of boys manage As at higher level – by 1.7 and 1.5 per cent respectively. In a third subject, Material Technology (previously ‘woodwork’), boys and girls scored equally, with 10 per cent of each getting an A.

Failure rates at higher-level subjects were also higher among boys in 20 out of the 23 subjects – with only arts and crafts, metalwork and woodwork having a higher failure rate among female candidates than male ones.

In each of those cases, the failure rates among girls were no more than 0.5 per cent greater than they were for boys.

By comparison, male students were more likely to fail in 20 of the 23 subjects – with subjects involving languages among those with the biggest gaps.

While only 1.2 per cent of girls failed Classical Studies – a subject which involves competency in Latin and Greek – the same subject was failed by 9.7 per cent of boys.

The next subjects with the greatest gaps in failure rates between the two sexes were Italian, Spanish, German, History, French, Irish and Technical Graphics.

Read: Almost 59,000 teens receive Junior Cert results

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    Mute Dave barrett
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    May 20th 2015, 6:50 AM

    I’m applying for that. So should every one on jobseekers.

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    Mute right wing
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    May 20th 2015, 6:50 AM

    Plus expenses and pension, who do l give my cv to.
    Forgot l don’t know the right person that holds the tickets to the gravy train.

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    Mute Mursh
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    May 20th 2015, 9:09 AM

    Considering you couldn’t figure out where to send your CV I doubt you not knowing the right people would have been the deciding factor in you not getting the job.

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    Mute John Kennedy
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    May 20th 2015, 9:23 AM

    Mursh, if you know the right people, you don’t need to send a C.V.

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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    May 20th 2015, 7:16 AM

    Whos been doing the job for the last 5 months?? & why dont they just keep doing it, and save some money!

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    Mute Jason Bourne
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    May 20th 2015, 8:59 AM

    Maybe someone who just qualified for the top up pension and doesn’t need the job anymore. Happens in the public sector all the time.

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    Mute Tap Solny
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    May 20th 2015, 11:03 AM

    Who or what is a whos?

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    Mute Mick lennon
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    May 20th 2015, 7:07 AM

    Jobsbridge? Be great to validate this wonderful govnt idea

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    Mute Trevor Beale
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    May 20th 2015, 6:43 AM

    Handy number!!

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    Mute MaryLou(ny)McDonald
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    May 20th 2015, 1:43 PM

    Ye..O’Brien did a three day week while living in the UK.

    Why do they need 3 Commissioners to run it? It allows for buck passing which is what they did when they fu(ked up the crazy buggung story. Appoint one person to run it and the buck stops with him/her.

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    Mute Anthony Lang
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    May 20th 2015, 6:58 AM

    A nightmare job if you attempted to do it properly!

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    Mute Drew
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    May 20th 2015, 6:55 AM

    Is it bad that that would be a significant paycut for most people I know professionally….

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    Mute An Ciarraioch
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    May 20th 2015, 7:30 AM

    Drew – You can finally come home “from China” ?
    Or is that Wicklow that you are really living in ?

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    Mute Pearse Mc Mullen
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    May 20th 2015, 9:15 AM

    Monopoly money dosen`t count drew….

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    Mute Tap Solny
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    May 20th 2015, 11:06 AM

    The usual moaners on here moaning. Moaners will moan about anything, they will even moan about having nothing to moan about.

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    Mute Mary Bibby
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    May 20th 2015, 12:13 PM

    I’ll do it for half

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