Javier Espinoza reported on Believing in Better for the Daily Telegraph

Girls leave boys behind at school because they are already focused on higher education by the age of 13, an Oxford University study has found.

The gender gap in attitudes is attributable to biological differences, which mean that girls mature earlier, according to experts who analysed a study of more than 3,000 young people.

It found that in Year 9 almost 65 per cent of girls said it was very important to go to university, compared with 58 per cent of boys. Researchers said that this was the case because girls “tend to mature” faster “socially and academically” and they feel more comfortable within school because they are better suited for academic studies.

The report from the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, also found that more than half of all the Year 9 pupils it surveyed thought it very important to get a degree compared with only 13 per cent who said it was of little or very little value. Around one in 10 girls felt it was not important to get a degree, but in boys that figure rose to 15 per cent.

Read his full report here