Gender educational attainment gaps in Europe

Recent data from the United Kingdom and Germany highlight persistent gender disparities in educational attainment and graduation rates.

In the United Kingdom, female students continue to outperform male students in GCSE and vocational exams. For the 38th consecutive year, girls are projected to lead in GCSE results, outperforming boys in 40 out of 47 subjects. In Level 3 technical and vocational exams, the gap is notable in high-tier grades, where the pass rate for female students reached 56.2% compared to 45.6% for males.

In Germany, new data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) provides further detail on the ‘Gender Education Gap’. While men represent a majority of students receiving first school leaving certificates (59% compared to 41% for women), women account for 55% of those obtaining the General Higher Education Entrance Qualification (Abitur).

Disparities extend into higher education and vocational stability. For the 2020 university cohort, 34% of female students completed their Bachelor’s degree within eight semesters, compared to 25% of males. Master’s program completion within six semesters also favored women at 53% versus 48% for men. Furthermore, in 2025, 15% of men aged 18 to 24 had no completed vocational training and were not enrolled in further education, compared to 11% of women. Men also accounted for 56% of school repeaters during the 2024/2025 school year.