Perception of ability could be a key motivator for boys.

A new study from the London School of Economics (LSE) has possibly identified a way people in teaching jobs can encourage pupils within the classroom, as it was found that boys are much more likely to be influenced by their peer group standing instead of their actual ability than girls.

Researchers explained that boys who are viewed as high flyers in primary school - regardless of their actual ability - will be more motivated to perform well at secondary school, reports BBC News.

The LSE study conducted by Richard Murphy and Felix Weinhardt looked at the results of more than two million pupils in England and examined to what extent they could be influenced by comparisons with fellow pupils in primary school and how these perceptions affected confidence.

For instance, the results showed that pupils benefited from being top of a weak class, rather than being middle ranking in a class of high-performing children - even if their actual ability levels were theoretically the same.

"We find that the pupil who was top of the class becomes more confident and performs better in secondary school than the pupil who had the same test score in primary school but a lower rank," said the researchers.

According to the scientists, this challenges the conventional wisdom that children will be pushed to do better at school if moved into a higher-performing peer group.

Trying to explain this, the LSE study concluded that high perceptions build greater expectations of success, so when confronted by difficulties in secondary school classes pupils are "less likely to be put off" and more willing to try harder to achieve.

As a primary school teacher or somebody looking for a teaching vacancy, do you think classrooms and peer groups currently do enough to promote confidence among primary school children?

Let us know how you feel about class sizes and ability bands.