article_snippet.sent: Two years ago Scientists at Newcastle University found that girls really do mature faster than boys.
article_snippet.sent: girls discovered that as the brain matures it begins to 'prune' information that is stored and focus on what is important.
article_snippet.sent: What does strike me is that in a single-sex environment, particularly at the age of 13, 14, 15, there is an opportunity for both boys and girls to be both boys and girls for longer.
article_snippet.sent: To be 'boyish' for longer, to be young girls,' He said, according to the BBC.
article_snippet.sent: Boys could also benefit from being taught separately.
article_snippet.sent: Statistics have shown that boys often lag behind girls at both GCSE and A-level and are much less likely to apply to university.
article_snippet.sent: Alun Jones, the first male president of the Girls' Schools Association, has previously called for teenage boys  to be taught in single sex classes in state schools.
article_snippet.sent: Mr Jones, who is also a schools inspector, said: 'If you have a very bright, very driven, very focused, very articulate lady, which a lot of girls are, that intimidates a boy in the classroom, especially boys of average ability. '
article_snippet.sent: The result is that boys don't put boys hands up to answer questions or boys indulge in immature behaviour to avoid being shown up.
article_snippet.sent: Boys are falling behind as girls are doing better.'
highlights_snippet.sent: Come after calls for boys to be taught separately in state schools .