Band 8+: Task 1: The first chart below shows the percentage of school-aged girls and boys who were at secondary school in four regions of the world in 2000. The second chart shows the percentages of college-aged men and women in higher education in the same year.

The charts compare the percentages of male and female students attending secondary school and higher education in four regions of the world in 2000.

Overall, Europe had the highest percentages of students in both levels of education, while Sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest figures. In addition, the percentages of students in higher education were much lower than those in secondary education in all regions.

In Europe, almost all boys and girls attended secondary school, at around 100%. In higher education, the figures were lower, at about 60% for males and 70% for females. In Sub-Saharan Africa, around 30% of boys and 20% of girls attended secondary school. However, only about 5% of males and 2% of females were in higher education.

In Latin America, about 50% of boys and 60% of girls attended secondary school, while the figures for higher education were around 20% and 13%, respectively. Similarly, in East Asia, around 60% of boys and 55% of girls were in secondary education. In higher education, the percentages were much lower, at approximately 10% for males and 8% for females.