Teachers ‘give higher grades to girls’

A classroom — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen participates in the reopening of a school in Copenhagen on 15 April

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Teachers give girls higher grades than boys because they find them to be better behaved, neater and easier to teach, according to a new study. Researchers in Italy found that the teachers helped to create and widen a “gender grade gap” by giving girls higher grades than boys even when they had “identical competence” in a subject. A 2015 study by the OECD reached the same conclusion, finding that girls’ work was being “marked up”, said The Times.

Couple find lucrative ancient coins under kitchen

A couple cashed in during home renovations when they uncovered a treasure trove of coins beneath their kitchen floor, said the Yorkshire Post. The owners of an 18th-century home in a village near Hull were relaying their kitchen floor when they found 264 rare gold coins, which later sold for £754,000 at auction. The coins, dating from 1610-1727, are believed to have belonged to a merchant family who made their fortune from trading with Baltic ports.

Fattest parrot ‘cancelled’ from contest

The world’s fattest parrot has been banned from a bird of the year contest, reported The Telegraph. As voting began in New Zealand’s Bird of the Year contest, anger was growing over a decision to ban the owl parrot, which won the contest in 2008 and 2020, and came runner-up in 2021. “Bird of the Year is so woke”, complained a fan, suggesting the kakapo had been “cancelled” and the contest had become a “participation award” for ugly birds.