After three years of secondary school, girls are performing better than boys and are more likely to be in higher streams than their primary schools expected, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

While girls and boys perform equally well at primary school, after three years of secondary school, girls are more likely than boys to have been moved into a higher stream, the CBS said.

Some 30% of girls end up in a higher secondary school stream than indicated by their primary school leaving test (cito), compared with around 22% of boys. By contrast, around 24% of boys have been moved down a level.

Figures last year showed there are now more girls than boys at Dutch universities, leading education minister Jet Bussemaker to say action is needed to ensure boys do not become a disadvantaged group.

Boys are also more likely than girls to be in a lower stream than indicated by their test results and to drop out of school without any qualifications.