Boys are not as keen to go to university as girls, a survey suggests.
About three-quarters (76%) of girls want to go to university compared with about two thirds of boys (67%), a poll of 2,400 11 to 16-year-olds suggested.
The gap of nine percentage points is double the one that emerged in a survey of pupils in England and Wales in 2006.
Educational charity the Sutton Trust, which commissioned the poll, said ways of raising male aspiration were needed and an aptitude test might be used.
The survey of state school pupils also suggested girls were more certain of their intentions than boys.
Some 41% of girls said they were very likely to go to university compared with 33% of boys.
The same poll also suggested boys were more cynical than girls about what factors might help them get on in life.
They were more likely to list "knowing the right people" and "which secondary school you go to" than girls.
Female respondents, by contrast, listed "aiming to be the best you can" and "being able to read and write well".
Boys' underachievement in schools has been a source of concern for teachers
and ministers.
//underachievement 不成績
Girls are more likely to get the benchmark five good GCSEs than boys and
more girls do better at A-level.
/(GCSEs:General Certificate of Secondary Education
Sutton Trust chairman, Sir Peter Lampl said, "We are looking for new ways to
raise the attainment and aspirations of boys, particularly those from
non-privileged backgrounds, so that more of them decide to go on to higher
education and can therefore access the excellent opportunities beyond."
//privileged /pri'v(э)lidз/: 特権を持つ、特権のある
back in a college
at the same time
/aptitude test
適性検査
january of the last year
my greatest dream
being realistic and practical
being pessimistic
its being realistic and