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The Gender Gap in New Zealands High School Examination Results Reading Answers

Bhaskar Das

Jul 5, 2025

The Gender Gap in New Zealand's High School Examination Results Reading Answers contain 13 questions and belong to the assessment system of the IELTS General Reading test. The Gender Gap in New Zealand's High School Examination Results Reading Answers must be answered within 20 minutes. In this IELTS reading section, question types include: Write the correct letter, and choose no more than two words. Also, the Gender Gap in New Zealand's High School Examination Results Reading Answers offers a comprehensive overview of the New Zealand national exam results, revealing a consistent gender gap, with girls outperforming boys across most subjects. To practice similar reading tests, candidates can refer to the IELTS Reading Practice Test section.

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Topic:

Results from New Zealand's new national examinations for secondary schools are giving that country some cause for concern.

A.The issue is the difference in pass rates between the sexes: at each level of the examination and across all school types, the difference is about 10 percentage points. Girls are doing better in every subject, and those in girls-only schools are taking top honours. The results are not a surprise: high school girls have been outperforming boys academically for more than a decade. It is an international phenomenon, and within Australia, it was the subject of much debate and controversy. Within New Zealand back in the 1980s, there was a concerted campaign, called "Girls Can Do Anything," which was aimed at lifting girls' participation rates, achievement levels, and aspirations. This was so successful that the pendulum has now swung to the other extreme. Views differ on how worried people should be. After all, for much of history, girls were excluded from any form of education, and this new phenomenon could be seen as a temporary over-correction before the balance is righted.

B.However, the New Zealand State Ministry of Education says it is taking the issue seriously. It is working with a reference group on boys' education, which has been set up, and it has commissioned an Australian academic to report on interventions that have been found to work for boys, drawing particularly on Australia's experience. But some, such as former prison manager Celia Lashlie, the author of a book for parents of teenage boys, believe there is still resistance within the Education Ministry towards doing anything about the problem

C.Education Ministry learning policy manager Steve Benson says that the National Certificate in Educational Achievement, or NCEA, as New Zealand's high school exams are called, is useful to employers and to universities because it provides a fine-grained picture of pupils' performance in every aspect of a subject, rather than just a pass or fail in an overall area. In most parts of the curriculum, for example in maths, there isn't really a gender gap. But literacy is a different matter. Even boys who are good at writing tend not to write so much. There's actually a quantity issue.

D.The discrepancy in reading and writing skills between males and females shows up as early as preschool, and the most significant difference is clear by the time these children enter high school. Not being good at literacy was not such a problem in the old days when many students left school for manual jobs after Year 11. But nowadays, many more stay on to higher education, and almost all jobs require literacy skills. Roger Moses, the headmaster of Wellington College, says that the written content of NCEA papers is more demanding than the previous system of secondary school qualifications in New Zealand, even in subjects such as statistics and accounting.

E.New Zealand 15-year-olds do better in international reading tests, but beneath this average lies a wide variance, with New Zealand European girls most represented at the top and New Zealand Pacific Island boys at the bottom. Yet some European girls drop out, and some Pacific Island boys excel. In other words, the range in performance within each gender group is much greater than the gender differences. Ethnic differences, and differences in socio-economic status, may be more significant than the simple boy/girl explanation.

F.This makes the Education Ministry nervous about pushing solutions that emphasize stereotyped gender differences, rather than looking at underachievement as a whole. Rob Burroughs, principal of Linwood High School in Christchurch, agrees. For three years, his school ran separate boys' classes to try to address the disparity in performance, before abandoning them. The research showed that the boys did better in their own class than in the co-educational environment. But when he looked at which teachers they had, and how well those teachers' other classes did, it became clear that the difference was, instead, to do with the quality of instruction.

G.At Onslow College, Dr. Stuart Martin would do away with the NCEA Level 1 exam if he could. He says that in Year 11, aged 15, boys are simply not mature enough to cope. They tend to think that just passing is enough, and that it's not necessary to work hard for a Merit or an Excellence grade. Often they are busy with other activities and part-time jobs. Boys' competitive instinct tends to come out later in their schooling years, especially if there is money attached or other tangible rewards. By 17, boys are catching up academically with the girls, and by the end of Year 13, boys are again winning the top prizes.

Questions 14 - 16

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each.

HIGH SCHOOL ASSESSMENT IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealanders are worried at the outcomes of their high school assessment system, because the 14…………..

Answer: achievement levels

Supporting statement: "The issue is the difference in pass rates between the sexes: at each level of the examination and across all school types, the difference is about 10 percentage points."

Keywords: [difference, pass rates, sexes, 10 percentage points]

Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Line 2

Explanation: The paragraph discusses how girls are outperforming boys at all levels of assessment, with about a 10% difference in pass rates, indicating that girls’ achievement levels are higher.

of girls are higher than those of boys by 10%. A gender gap has been apparent for over a 15…………….

Answer: decade

Supporting statement: "The results are not a surprise: high school girls have been outperforming boys academically for more than a decade."

Keywords: [girls, outperforming, boys, more than a decade]

Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Line 4

Explanation: The passage mentions that the academic advantage of girls over boys has persisted for more than a decade, indicating that this gender gap is longstanding.

This situation is not unique to New Zealand, and has been noticed in 16……………..also.

Answer: other countries

Supporting statement: "It is an international phenomenon..."

Keywords: [international, phenomenon]

Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Line 5

Explanation: The gender achievement gap is described as a global trend, not just limited to New Zealand, indicating that similar patterns are observed in other countries.

Questions 17 - 20

Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs, A-H.

Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-H.

17. An advantage of New Zealand's secondary school tests

Answer: C

Supporting statement: "NCEA... is useful to employers and to universities because it provides a fine-grained picture of pupils' performance..."

Keywords: [useful, employers, universities, fine-grained picture]

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, Line 1

Explanation: Paragraph C highlights the advantage of NCEA by explaining how it gives detailed feedback on student performance, making it valuable to employers and universities.

18. A mention of current government initiatives to boost male achievement

Answer: B

Supporting statement: "The New Zealand State Ministry of Education says it is taking the issue seriously... commissioned an Australian academic to report on interventions..."

Keywords: [Education Ministry, working, interventions, boys]

Keyword Location: Paragraph B, Lines 1–3

Explanation: This paragraph mentions current government initiatives like creating a boys' education group and commissioning reports to address male underachievement.

19. When gender difference in literacy skills first becomes evident

Answer: D

Supporting statement: "The discrepancy in reading and writing skills between males and females shows up as early as preschool..."

Keywords: [discrepancy, reading, writing, preschool]

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, Line 1

Explanation: The literacy gap first becomes evident in preschool, with a clearer difference by high school, suggesting early onset of gendered literacy disparity.

20. Findings that relate academic achievement to race

Answer: E

Supporting statement: "New Zealand 15-year-olds do better in international reading tests... European girls most represented at the top and Pacific Island boys at the bottom."

Keywords: [European girls, Pacific Island boys, performance, ethnicity]

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Lines 1–2

Explanation: This paragraph ties academic achievement to race, showing performance differences among ethnic groups, and suggesting these may be more significant than gender.

Questions 21 - 26

Match each person with the correct statement,

A-H. Write the correct letter, A-H.

21. Celia Lashlie

Answer: H

Supporting statement: "Celia Lashlie... believes there is still resistance within the Education Ministry towards doing anything about the problem."

Keywords: [resistance, Education Ministry, doing anything]

Keyword Location: Paragraph B, Line 4

Explanation: Lashlie believes the government is reluctant to act to support boys, aligning her with Statement H.

22. Steve Benson

Answer: E

Supporting statement: "In most parts of the curriculum, for example in maths, there isn't really a gender gap."

Keywords: [curriculum, maths, no gender gap]

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, Line 3

Explanation: Steve Benson mentions that the gender gap is not universal across subjects, pointing to Statement E.

23. Roger Moses

Answer: G

Supporting statement: "Roger Moses... says that the written content of NCEA papers is more demanding than the previous system..."

Keywords: [more demanding, written content, previous system]

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, Line 4

Explanation: Moses comments on the increased literacy demand of current exams compared to the past, supporting Statement G.

24. Rob Burroughs

Answer: C

Supporting statement: "It became clear that the difference was, instead, to do with the quality of instruction."

Keywords: [difference, quality, instruction, teachers]

Keyword Location: Paragraph F, Line 5

Explanation: Burroughs concluded that teaching quality, not classroom structure, affected results, matching Statement C.

25. Stuart Martin

Answer: F

Supporting statement: "Boys' competitive instinct tends to come out later... by the end of Year 13, boys are again winning the top prizes."

Keywords: [boys, later, competitive, Year 13, top prizes]

Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Line 4

Explanation: Martin explains how older boys become more academically driven, aligning with Statement F.

26. Paul Baker

Answer: Not Given in Text

Supporting statement: N/A

Keywords: Paul Baker is not mentioned

Keyword Location: N/A

Explanation: The passage contains no reference to Paul Baker, so no matching statement can be identified.

LIST OF STATEMENTS:

A. Boys gain lower marks on NCEA if they attend an all-boys' school.

B. Boys are disadvantaged by girls tending to take over at school.

C. Good teaching is more important than whether classrooms are single sex or mixed.

D. Mathematical skills were not so important in the past.

E. The difference in achievement between school boys and girls is only evident in some subjects.

F. Older boys are more motivated to study than younger boys.

G. The NCEA exams have higher literacy standards than past exams did.

H. The New Zealand government is reluctant to take action on behalf of boys.

Check IELTS reading samples:

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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