Sian Griffiths and Julie Henry:

History students will be able to sit a paper at home in an effort to close the gap with the number of men getting top degrees

Oxford University is to change its exam system to help women do better amid figures showing men are much more likely to get a first-class degree.

One of Oxford’s five final-year history exams will be replaced by a paper that can be done at home to try to improve results for female students.

The move, which begins in the next academic year, comes as statistics showed 32% of women achieved a first in history at Oxford, compared with 37% of men. Cambridge University — where the average gender gap is nearly nine percentage points across all subjects — is reviewing its exam system “in order to understand fully any variations and how we can mitigate them effectively”.