Girls more successful than boys in Turkey, exam results show

ISTANBUL

Girls outperformed boys on last month’s LGS high school entrance exam in every subject except mathematics, according to the results for the 1.47 million students who sat the test.

The result demonstrates the continued success of female students, who similarly performed better than their male counterparts in 2018 and 2019.

Some 181 students from 42 different provinces scored the full 500 points by answering every question correctly on the June 20 test, according to the Education Ministry.

Some 7.85 percent of the students scored marks ranging from 400 to 500.

According to the report, students did better on the science tests this year than in 2019, but the average results for the math, Turkish and social studies components were worse than last year.

Overall, the lowest marks were for math and foreign languages, the ministry said.

The exam had two sessions. In the first, students answered questions on Turkish history; the principles of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; religion and morality; and a foreign language. 

The second session focused on math and science.

The results also revealed that the higher the level of parents’ education and socioeconomic status, the better their children’s success on the exam.

In Turkey, any student who successfully completes eight years of basic education can go enter high school by taking the LGS test.