Researchers at the University of London's Institute of Education found that, at age five, girls are around two months ahead of boys on three of the most significant information-processing skills - visual, spatial and non-verbal.
The research, published on Friday by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, is the third survey of the Millennium Cohort Study, which is tracking the development of 15,460 children born in the UK during the first two years of the century.
Dr Kirstine Hansen, the study's research director, said, 'There was roughly the same number of boys as girls in the top 10 per cent of the ability range. However, there are fewer girls in the lower-scoring groups. Our age three assessments of the children showed the same trend, so the gender gap in learning is established early in life.'
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