Single-sex vs co-educational schools: which is best?

Main image: St Edward's School

Every parent is all too familiar with the endless list of considerations to be made when choosing a school for their child. Which is best: day or boarding? An all-through school, where children can start aged three or four and stay all the way to 18, or a standalone prep or senior? And then – should you plump for co-education or an all-boys/all-girls school? The latter is the basis for a debate that has long raged among educational leaders, parents and pupils – and there’s no sign of it going away. So when it comes to single-sex and co-educational schools, which one really is best?

According to the Independent Schools Council’s 2023 Census, there are 92 fully single-sex (defined as single-sex in all year groups beyond nursery age), independent boys’ schools and 139 independent girls’ schools in the UK. Combined, these make up 17 per cent of the total number of independent schools in the country.

The figures speak for themselves. Single-sex schools are in the clear minority, with numbers continuing to dwindle as more and more once staunchly single-sex schools turn to co-education, or announce plans to do so in the not-so-distant future. In 2022, Winchester College – at the time, one of only four full-boarding, all-boys schools left in the UK – made its biggest change in its 642-year history, admitting girls into the sixth form for the very first time. For several decades, London’s Westminster School has admitted girls exclusively into the sixth form; by 2030, it intends to be fully co-educational all the way from seven to 18.

Traditional boys’ prep Aysgarth School has had a co-ed pre-prep for over 30 years, but this September, girls will be accepted across all age groups. ‘This decision is about making our best even better,’ says head Jonathon Anderson. ‘Aysgarth has a longstanding tradition of preparing boys for success at leading senior schools and beyond. With this expansion, we aim to provide the same exemplary educational experience for girls, ensuring they receive the finest opportunities, ambitious teaching and celebrated pastoral care.’

Aysgarth School

One of the oldest all-girls’ schools in the country, Godolphin, is following suit. In 2025, the school is intending to move to become co-educational, welcoming boys in every year group. ‘This decision makes a pivotal moment in Godolphin’s history,’ head Jenny Price tells us. ‘Our founder, Elizabeth Godolphin, looked to the future in her commitment to the education of girls. By extending our welcome to boys, we aim to enrich our school community with a broader range of perspectives, talents and experiences’.

Godolphin

Of course, each model has its own merits. Those firmly in the single-sex camp argue that boys and girls mature at different rates, and their learning experiences should be tailored accordingly. Boys, for example, might benefit from pacier lesson times and regular breaks to help with shorter concentration spans; girls might thrive on opportunities for group work or focused, individual study. Gender separation can be particularly beneficial during the tricky adolescent years, when peer pressure is rife; pupils might feel more confident speaking up in lessons and succumb to fewer distractions in the classroom.

Those who advocate for single-sex schools might say that pupils are more likely to take part in sport or choose activities and traditionally ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ subjects, free from gender bias. Many all-girls schools cite the high uptake of STEM subjects as one example, and there’s research to back this up. A recent GSA report examining academic achievement in girls’ schools found that girls in single-sex schools are 2.6 times more likely to take further maths, and more than twice as likely to take physics and computer science at A-level, compared to girls at co-educational schools.

On the flip side, proponents of co-education often question whether single-sex schools are fit for purpose in today’s world. Schools have a duty to prepare their pupils for life beyond school, and many would argue that children should learn to live, work and interact with members of the opposite sex from a young age. So a co-educational environment could encourage children to develop greater social confidence and mutual respect for the opposite sex, while exposing them to different attitudes and viewpoints and breaking down gender stereotypes. In the sixth form – when pupils have become young adults and are busy preparing for the leap into the real world – this could be seen as particularly valuable.

Perhaps this is why some schools such as New Hall School and Brentwood School have found a middle ground by offering a diamond model. By teaching pupils in a co-educational setting at prep school age, then running on a single-sex model for the senior years before reverting to co-education for sixth form, these schools offer the best of both worlds. Similarly, Somerhill School mixes co-ed and single-sex prep education under one roof, with pupils divided into three teaching groups; co-ed Somerhill Pre-Prep, Yardley Court for boys from Years 3 to 8 and Derwent Lodge for girls from Years 3 to 6. From Year 3 upwards, boys and girls mix freely outside the classroom but learn in single-sex groups, with staff encouraged to vary their teaching methods accordingly. Neatly combining the academic benefits of single-sex teaching with the social upsides of everyone being together the rest of the time, this model could certainly solve the dilemma for many families.

There are a number of practical considerations too. For families with sons and daughters, it could make more logistical sense for children to attend the same school, particularly when travelling long distances for exeats and holidays. Conversely, some parents might prefer to split siblings up, allowing each to forge their own path without living in the shadow of a brother or sister.

Ultimately, parents should choose a school because they feel it is right for their son or daughter, and there are many more important tangible and intangible factors to consider, from pastoral care to academic results, SEND provision and co-curricular opportunities. That said, there’s no escaping the debate – so we asked four top heads for their thoughts…

In favour of co-ed schools

Alastair Chirnside, head of St Edward’s School

Single-sex versus co-ed is one of the hardest questions when you’re choosing a school. Once upon a time, most schools were single-sex. Now, the number is vanishingly small, and single-sex schools are working hard to convince parents about tailored learning environments, about better results, about differences in maturity, about the absence of distraction. But when you adjust for other factors – like admissions policies and socio-economic background – there’s no difference in academic attainment in single-sex schools. The arguments about learning don’t hold.

Advocates of single-sex schools, and there are fewer of them these days, talk about reducing stereotyping and helping children to avoid gender bias. In fact, the opposite is true. In their co-curricular programmes, for example, single-sex schools put structural limits on opportunity, assuming that girls don’t want to play rugby or that boys are not interested in dance. In the best co-educational schools, and especially in progressive schools like St Edward’s which offer the International Baccalaureate, you don’t find any issues in subject choice, either: half of the boys in the sixth form are taking English literature; two-thirds of the girls are taking maths; and there is a balance across the sciences and the arts, just as there should be. When the culture is good, the arguments about stereotyping don’t hold.

Those are good arguments for co-education, but they are not the best reasons for choosing a co-educational school. The purpose of education is endlessly debated, but there is one clear point of consensus: it should be about preparation for life. For every child, the world beyond school will have men and women working, learning and living together. The best preparation must be in a co-educational school. The most important type of intelligence is emotional intelligence, and it is best developed at a school which includes both girls and boys.

The biggest problem when you’re choosing a school is that it’s impossible to know what it’s really like. Open mornings and visits are no substitute for lived experience. Almost everyone who went to a co-educational school makes the same choice for their children. That’s not the case for single-sex schools, which tells you everything about this debate that you need to know.

Keith Metcalfe, head of Malvern College

Malvern College became co-educational over three decades ago, and our focus has always been on striking a balance between our valued traditions and educational development, in order to provide our pupils with what we believe to be the best of both worlds.

Co-education has a myriad of benefits, not least the opportunity to create a diverse, balanced school community, aided by the fact that our pupils join us from a range of cultures, backgrounds and experiences – and, importantly, from across the globe.

The co-educational model places pupils in an environment that stimulates their intellectual curiosity, where they have the opportunity to learn as much from one another and their own unique life experiences as they do within the classroom, preparing them for the real world outside of the school gates.

We want pupils to leave us with the ability to communicate, collaborate with and be mutually respectful of people of all genders, cultures and backgrounds, and to do that with kindness, open-mindedness and humility – all skills enshrined in our Malvern Qualities. The co-ed model is integral to that.

Mixed-sex lessons and tutor groups break down the barriers that can be created by the notion of traditionally female and male subjects, allowing our pupils to pursue their own interests in a setting where gender has no bearing on academic ability. Similarly, we give our pupils, 80 per cent of whom board with us full time, plenty of supervised opportunities to mix outside of the classroom.

That said, our boarding houses remain single-sex, with each pupil belonging to one of our six boys’ houses and five girls' houses. We feel that this allows our pupils to develop incredibly strong bonds within their house communities, who become their chosen family.

The age at which our pupils join us – entering their teenage years and on the precipice between childhood and adulthood – can be fraught with challenges. It is a time of great adjustment, and being able to create safe spaces in single-sex houses not only offers pupils the mutual support and understanding of their peers who are or have been in the same situation, but also allows our in-house teams to better support our pupils through what, for some, can be difficult years.

Sport is integral to life at Malvern and provides a great environment for single-sex sports teams as well as opportunities for mixed teams, where boys and girls learn to collaborate and value different approaches to games. Testament to that is the fact that an impressive number of our pupils, both boys and girls, compete at a national and international level.

While we have had an equal split between winning boys’ and girls’ teams over the last four years, the approach that they take is fascinating, with the boys often prioritising speed and physicality and the girls ingenuity in making connections with people. The co-ed format really does help to spur on that sense of competition between the teams and encourages resourcefulness – something that you wouldn’t necessarily see as strongly, were the competition single-sex.

Ultimately, our aim at Malvern is to develop outstanding young people with the skills, resilience and initiative to flourish in a rapidly changing global landscape. To do this means developing the emotional and cultural intelligence that comes from working with other people, from different sexes and cultural backgrounds.

In favour of single-sex schools

James Priory, head of Tonbridge School

There are great schools of all kinds. As someone who has been the head of single-sex and co-educational independent schools, I understand that what matters most is the quality of school you are, rather than the type.

However, I also believe that the experience a school like Tonbridge offers is made distinctive by our expertise in educating boys and by our ability to create an environment in which boys have the freedom to grow and to express themselves fully.

Our boys have the confidence to become rounded individuals and to do so without self-consciousness, rather than defining themselves by some preconceived notions of what a boy should be like. Even in the most well-established co-educational settings, it can be surprising how gender bias exerts itself in the different subjects and activities that girls and boys pursue.

Research shows that teenage boys and girls develop, physically and emotionally, at very different rates. Single-sex schools are arguably better equipped to deal with this, particularly in terms of pastoral care.

Boys and girls learn differently, too, so there are advantages in teaching them separately while still being able to share super- and co-curricular activities with girls’ and co-educational schools, such as pastoral education events, pupil leadership training and subject conferences. We run joint musical and drama productions. All year groups are actively involved in the community, with weekly volunteering and other pursuits.

We feel we offer the best of both worlds, and that it is in this connected environment that our boys are given the space in which to become themselves.

Our boys benefit from a focus on academic learning in the morning, with sports and community service activities often taking place in the afternoons. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the broad programme on offer, while being supported in developing specialist interests to a high level. It is exciting to see the boys discover a love of learning and scholarliness at the same time as sustaining such a wide range of sporting and other co-curricular interests, and we see this translate to university and in the boys’ future lives.

Our house system works particularly well for boys as it provides a sense of belonging and identity. The vertical mix of age groups in a house also helps to provide motivation where there is positive role-modelling by older boys.

Of course, what matters most is the quality of education on offer. A good test of this is to see the quality and range of destinations that pupils then have the confidence to pursue beyond their time at school. We are delighted to see our boys progressing to world-class universities and degree apprenticeships here in the UK and globally and choosing courses across the full range of STEM, humanities, languages and arts subjects.

There is not necessarily a right or wrong school choice, and the best way to decide if a single-sex school is right for you is to visit: spend time at a school, go on a tour and talk to current students and staff about their experience. Only then will you get a true sense of whether you have found the right environment for your child.

Jane Gandee, head of St Swithun’s School

The writer Catherine Nichols sent the first few pages of her novel and a covering letter to 50 literary agents. Two asked to see the complete novel. She changed her name to a male one and sent the same pages and letter and received 17 positive replies. She was apparently an eight-and-a-half times better writer as a man.

An identical CV was sent out for a position as a lab manager to science professors at top universities. The professors rated the ‘male’ applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the ‘female’ one and offered a higher starting salary.

Joey Barton claimed women commentators ‘shouldn't be talking with any kind of authority’ on the men's game, adding that it was like him ‘talking about knitting or netball’.

The above are a few of the many examples of discrimination, lazy stereotyping and inexplicable misogyny that still exist in 2024.

What causes these attitudes? It’s complicated, of course, but research conducted in schools suggests some answers.

An American study found that elementary- and middle-school boys received eight times more attention than girls. When boys called out in class, teachers engaged with them, but when girls did the same, they were told to put their hands up. According to the researchers, ‘teachers talk less to girls, question them less, praise, probe, clarify and correct them less… girls quickly learn to smile, work quietly, be neat, defer to boys and speak only when spoken to.’

Research also shows that parents interrupt their daughters more than their sons and are significantly more likely to Google ‘Is my son a genius?’ than ‘Is my daughter a genius?’

As Mary Ann Sieghart points out in The Authority Gap, this early training, in general terms, leads to confident – sometimes overconfident – men and systemic deference to and respect for men’s competence even where this is misjudged. The converse is true for women, namely a systemic underappreciation of women’s ability.

In a single-sex environment, research shows that girls grow up to be just as confident as boys. They play just as much sport and develop as leaders, risk-takers and all the other things that tedious stereotypes might suggest are ‘unfeminine’. We need girls’ schools to provide a level playing field and to act as agents for change. Young women leave girls’ schools expecting to be respected, to lead and to make good use of their experience to have a positive impact on the world.

Single-sex vs co-educational schools: which is best?

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