Evidence suggests that single-sex groups for science, whether in mixed schools or in single-sex schools, do not improve the attainment of girls in first-year science. Boys are shown to perform equally well upon knowledge-based tests; but upon mechanical reasoning and evaluation of data tests, boys perform significantly better than girls. (Author)

Examines the attitudes to science, physics, chemistry, biology, and to school of students in mixed and single-sex secondary schools from England. Results are used to support an argument for separating students by sex for studying some subjects in mixed schools. (ML)

Results showed differences in subject preference between male and female students and between mixed and single-sex schools in England. Perceptions of subject importance also showed some sex differences, but on the whole males and females from both kinds of schools are in broad agreement as to the relative importance of subjects. (Author/RM)