More male teachers "won't improve boys' achievement"

Having more male primary school teachers and using ‘boy-friendly’ methods of teaching will not boost boys’ educational results, a government report has found.

It was believed that these strategies might help to close the gap between boys’ and girls’ results.

However the report, published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families concluded the approach to be ‘simplistic’, and found little difference between the learning patterns of boys and girls.

The report stated: “This finding is in line with other research suggesting that teachers have low expectations of boys’ academic potential and such low expectations could contribute to their low achievement.”

84% of primary school teachers are female.