When Westminster social mobility tsar Katharine Birbalsingh told a parliamentary committee yesterday that “physics isn’t something that girls tend to fancy” because of the “hard maths” involved, there was widespread condemnation of her comments.

But what do Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) statistics tell us about girls’ uptake of physics and their attainment in the subject?

We looked at 2021 data for physics at each level, from National 3 to Advanced Higher. It showed that, while far more boys than girls take physics, those girls who do take the subject tend to do better.

In fact, girls outperform boys in physics at every level apart from National 4, where boys’ attainment is marginally higher.

• Social mobility tsar: Girls shun physics because of ‘hard maths’
• From the archive: Girls doing significantly better than boys in high-level qualifications
• Quick read: What schools can do to close ‘bleak’ Stem gender gap

These are the 2021 SQA statistics* for each level of physics qualification:

National 3

61 per cent male entries, 40 per cent female entries**.

82 per cent of male entries result in a pass and 84 per cent of female entries result in a pass.

National 4

84 per cent male entries, 16 per cent female entries.

90 per cent of male entries result in a pass and 88 per cent of female entries result in a pass.

National 5

71 per cent male entries, 29 per cent female entries.

40 per cent of male entries result in an A grade and 53 per cent of female entries result in an A grade.

79 per cent of male entries result in an A-C grade and 87 per cent of female entries result in an A-C grade.

Higher

73 per cent male entries, 27 per cent female entries.

39 per cent of male entries result in an A grade and 52 per cent of female entries result in an A grade.

79 per cent of male entries result in an A-C grade and 86 per cent of female entries result in an A-C grade.

Advanced Higher

77 per cent male entries, 23 per cent female entries.

49 per cent of male entries result in an A grade and 61 per cent of female entries result in an A grade.

87 per cent of male entries result in an A-C grade and 92 per cent of female entries result in an A-C grade.

*Source: Scottish Qualifications Authority 2021 statistics, which can be viewed in full here

**Rounding means that percentage breakdowns in SQA statistics do not always add up to 100 per cent