WASHINGTON — The gap between boys and girls on a qualifying test for national scholarships has narrowed with the addition of a writing segment on which girls did better.

The changes in results on the Preliminary SAT, released Wednesday, mean more girls will have a shot at more than $25 million in National Merit Scholarships when they graduate from high school next year. However, critics say the test is still biased and a reliance on it still excludes too many girls who outperform boys in school.