IT seems like the woman's way is a winner as far as school exams are concerned.

While girls outshone boys in terms of A-level passes some time ago, this year's results have shown girls steaming further ahead in terms of scooping more A-grades than the boys.

Helen Hamilton, headteacher of Darlington girls' school, Polam Hall, says she is delighted at the shining performance of girls across the nation.

And she put the success down to more 'female' forms of assessment and examination. "The female work ethic is suited to the fact that AS and A-levels demand a lot of steady work rather than the fast sprint towards a final exam," says Mrs Hamilton.

"Girls are certainly more mature at around 16 and 17 and are more willing to work harder and steadier over the year.That doesn't mean all girls are steady and all boys prefer exams at the end, but continual assessment tends to suit more girls than boys.

"And with having to sit maybe five or six exams a day, you need to be able to multi-task, which girls are reputed to be more adept at doing."

Mrs Hamilton says the trend towards continual assessment is making headway towards redressing the traditional 'sprint' exam at the end of the year. And she was pleased girls were breaking into areas of science and maths which are traditionally 'male' domains.

But, she says she is worried that there may be a leaning towards the female work ethic. "It worries me the system favours one sort of way of working and the whole qualification system seems to be carrying a female bias."

Speaking about why girls had outperformed boys, Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, adds: "The trend towards course work and modular exams certainly helps girls. In general terms, girls are more diligent and conscientious than boys.

"The male side of the curriculum and the exams needs to be considered much more to make sure boys are more engaged with the work they are having to do."