Gendered patterns in teacher assessment and blind grading: evidence from 366,665 upper secondary grades in Norway

Recent research in Norway has increasingly identified a consistent pattern in student achievement: while boys and girls perform similarly on externally graded exams, girls tend to outperform boys in teacher-assigned grades. Girls appear to benefit more from classroom-based assessment, whereas boys achieve comparatively higher results under blind grading. However, the existing knowledge base is limited, as previous studies rely on older datasets, focus primarily on compulsory schooling, and lack access to comprehensive register data from upper secondary education. This study addresses these gaps by analyzing recent aggregated register data from the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training’s Grade Statistics for Upper Secondary Education, 2024–2025. The dataset includes gender-disaggregated information on teacher assessments (“standpunkt”) and written exams across 12 upper secondary subjects. A total of 366,665 grade records were analyzed. Subjects were selected based on the availability of both teacher and exam grades within the same school year and represent a broad range of disciplines from first-year upper secondary (Vg1; approximately grade 11) core subjects to third-year (Vg3) program-specific courses. Mean differences, grade distributions, and effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated to compare assessment types. Paired t-tests were used to test the significance of differences, and cumulative link models were employed to estimate the probability of receiving higher grades based on assessment type and gender. Across all subjects, teacher assessment was substantially more favorable than the written exam, and gender differences were markedly larger in teacher assessment than on exams. While gender gaps on exams were small or negligible, teacher-assigned grades consistently favored female students. The article discusses how these findings, together with current policy developments and new admission rules for higher education, highlight the relevance of considering blind grading practices in school-based assessments such as mock exams and term tests.