Britain\u2019s education system is failing to tackle the \u201castonishing\u201d underperformance of boys as feminists have made the topic \u201ctaboo\u201d, the former head of the university admissions service has warned.<\/span><\/p>\n Mary Curnock Cook, who was chief executive of Ucas until last year, said the fact that boys are falling behind in education is a national scandal \u2013 yet it is such an \u201cunfashionable\u201d topic to discuss that it has become \u201cnormalised\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Girls outperform boys in all aspects of education, from primary school to GCSEs and A-level results. Last year, 57 per cent of women went to university compared to 43 per cent of men, a gap that has widened significantly over the last decade.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI just find it unacceptable to think that it\u2019s OK to let boys fall further and further behind in education and allow the gap to get bigger,\u201d Ms Curnock Cook said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBoys underachieving in education is becoming pretty normalised – everyone knows it yet no one is doing anything about it.\u201d She said that other disparities in education \u2013 such as the gulf between rich and poor children \u2013 are narrowing, but the gap between boys and girls is getting wider.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn about ten years\u2019 time the gap between boys and girls will be worse than rich and poor. That is astonishing really.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ms Curnock Cook said that the debate about gender equality tends to be dominated by issues such as the gender pay gap and the glass ceiling.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut those are work issues, not education issues,\u201d she said. \u201cQuite often initiatives to support men do meet derision from feminists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n