It is often said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, so it is little wonder that the sexes operate in different ways throughout their lives - including at school.

But, for too long, boys' exam results were allowed to trail behind those of girls - with education bosses simply accepting the ever-widening gap between them.

However, with the arrival of the new millennium came a fresh approach to learning, as Ofsted inspectors and the Government urged all schools to change their focus to ensure boys reached their potential.

And now, six years down the line, pupils are finally beginning to reap the rewards, and, in some cases, boys are overtaking girls.

Carmel Technology College, in Darlington, this year saw 91 per cent of their students get five or more A*-C GCSEs - 90 per cent of the boys and 92 per cent of the girls - up from a total of 58 per cent last year.

Headteacher James O'Neill said in recent years the school had tried to adopt a culture where it was considered cool to learn, and an environment where only the highest standards would do.

With the use of mentors and individual targets for each child, along with a wider curriculum, including practical, computer and industry-based subjects, Carmel School is now seeing its boys excel as much as the girls.

"We celebrate personal achievement at Carmel, which means every child is being celebrated, not just those that get top grades," he said.

"We monitor each child's progress, which enables us to identify any child that is not making progress, and helps us to regularly give feedback.

"Boys and girls benefit from that, but boys, in particular, respond to one-on-one teaching, so find it very helpful.

"They like to have a very clear focus and like a lot of encouragement.

"Boys, like girls, like to achieve, but I think they like rapid feedback.

"If boys think they are not achieving, they would rather not do something at all. Girls, generally, are better at long-term aims."

At Egglescliffe School, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, headteacher Angela Darnell said she believed the pupils were benefiting from an array of changes, which has seen the school go from a teaching establishment, to one of learning.

Last year, 80 per cent of students got five top grade GCSEs, all of which were in traditional academic subjects - with 84 per cent of boys achieving the benchmark, in comparison to 75 per cent of girls.

Every teacher has had to alter the way they approach lessons to better cater for boys and girls.

Boys now sit next to girls in class, in the hope they complement each other's learning styles, and lessons are split into 15-minute "chunks" to offer a variety of learning styles, incorporating more visual and practical techniques to conquer boredom and lack of concentration.

Students are also made more aware of the aim and focus of each lesson.

"Boys tend to be visual, hands-on, practical learners and often are very good at the spoken word, but don't like as much reading and writing," said Mrs Darnell.

"We have also found that boys prefer to work in pairs or groups, rather than on their own, so we incorporate more of that. We have simply varied what we do."

She said stimulating all pupils was key, and believed an investment in information technology, allowing a digital projector and laptop in every class, has had a profound effect.

Helping boys to get more organised, by offering structured revision classes before exams, and mentors for under-achievers, had helped to raise standards, she said.

"Our target last year was 75 per cent, so it was fantastic that we got 80 per cent, and we are very optimistic for next year and hope to reach our target of 79 per cent," said Mrs Darnell.

"But there are no quick fixes, and we didn't give a magic bullet to those kids last year - they were not a particularly special year group, they just worked very hard and did well.

"I would like to think that their achievements were down to all the changes we have made, which has seen both boys and girls improve."