Some courses in Cambridge have an awarding gap as high as almost 17 points, Varsity can reveal.

Freedom information requests on 2024 exam results found that male Astrophysics students on the Natural Sciences Tripos score on average 16.8% better than female students.

Other subjects with the significant awarding gaps include Archaeology, with a 6.96% difference. For students studying the Theology Part IIB, the average male student received 71, whereas the average female received 66.

Another significant awarding gap was in Education which favoured male identifying students. Male students on average received 70, whereas females received an average of 67, despite the cohort being made up of 82% women.

In the 2023 exam cycle where Female students were 8% less likely to receive a first, marking a continuing trend of women getting fewer firsts than men since 2011.

This comes after the University recently decided to exclude the gender attainment gap in its access report. This was due to the Office for Students not considering a disparity between attainment of “good honours” (a II.i in comparison to a First) an awarding gap.

In May, a university spokesperson told Varsity about the decision to omit the gap from its access plan, stating that “just because a target isn’t included doesn’t diminish the University’s dedication to tackling certain issues” and claiming that they are carrying out “extensive research into this persistent gender awarding gap”.

The gender awarding gap will be incorporated into the University’s Athena Swan action plan, which will be used across the sector to support and transform gender equality.

Only 26 out of 58 subjects showed a higher average mark for female identifying students.

Rosie Freeman, Chair of the Cambridge women’s campaign told Varsity: “Now is the time for the University to move beyond vague commitments in favour of practical, well-funded and student led strategies”

“The undergraduate Gender Awarding Gap is a very real issue and beyond the statistics we have to investigate how this may act as a barrier to academic progression and how this gap is experienced daily,” she continued.

The cohort size of the Astrophysics track is not publicly available, however the Natural Sciences tripos it is a part of is made up of 52% men.

Some of the subjects where female students receive a higher average mark include, MML part II, History of Art part II and History and Modern Languages part II.

For STEM students, female identifying students studying the PBS part II tripos, Material Science students, Plant science, Genetics, and part IIA female engineers receive a higher mark on average than their male counterparts. These students are not more likely to receive a first however, with the average mark for male and female students being a II.ii.

A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge told Varsity: “The University is conducting thorough research to understand the causes of the gender awarding gap and has established an institution-wide project to bring this together in one place. The gap is also being examined as part of the teaching review and the University will be making a public commitment to closing it.”