1 in 4 Brit boys struggle to write their own name by age 5

London, July 30 (ANI): A new report by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in Britain claims a huge gender gap between the abilities of children, with the girls dominating.

The study was conducted on five year olds to record their learning abilities last year.

The statistics representing England and Wales showed that girls outshone boys at most levels, with 78 percent of girls able to hold a pencil and write recognisable letters, compared with 62 percent of boys.

Also three-quarters of five-year-old girls were able to write a simple shopping list, or a letter to Father Christmas, while only half of boys could do so.

And over a 26 percent of boys aged five could not write their names, compared with just 15per cent of girls, the Guardian reports.

Girls apparently also turned out to be more creative than boys as 71 percent of five-year-old girls were judged more imaginative as they excelled in art and design, music, dance, role play and stories, unlike a meagre 52 per cent of boys.

However the boys proved better "knowledge and understanding of the world".

More than half built objects using appropriate tools and techniques compared with 48 percent of girls and also a greater number could identify everyday technology.

In total only a fraction of five-year-olds achieved all the early learning goals or consistently worked beyond them.

The results were based on observations by teachers and nursery workers, taken before last September's introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), also called "nappy curriculum" that covers children's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development.

Children's minister, Dawn Primarolo was pleased with the report but hoped for even better results in future.

He said: "I am pleased to see the improvements in young children's achievement last year, with 21,000 more children reaching a good level of development and I am particularly pleased to see that the lowest-achieving children have not only kept pace but improved faster than the rest.

"We are making progress on narrowing the gender gap in young children's achievement but we know that we need to do more." (ANI)