Schools Guide

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‘Girls must be taught in single-sex schools because boys are a terrible distraction.’ ‘Boys need to be boys, which means they must go to all boys’ schools where they can play rugby, take part in the CCF and do the kinds of things they can only do when girls are not around.’ ‘The problem with co-ed is that it may sound very good in theory, but the reality is that if boys and girls are in the same school together, they will be spending all their time thinking about sex. They will endlessly distract each other.’ ‘Co-education? It’s obviously a bad idea because all the evidence shows that girls and boys do much better when they are educated alone. All you have to do is look at the league tables.’ ‘Coeducation is great for boys, isn’t it, but the girls suffer and are second-class citizens.’ ‘If you want your daughters to be leaders, or scientists, send them to an all-girls school. There is plenty of time for boys later!’

These statements have all been made by real parents to me, and indeed they will echo the views of many of the readers of this Guide. It is rarely a good thing to disagree with prospective parents. But it is, I fear, what I am about to do!

Let’s get some facts clear at the outset. There is absolutely no – repeat: absolutely no – firm evidence to suggest that boys and girls do better academically when taught apart. Even if there was (which there isn’t!) there are powerful and compelling arguments for having boys and girls in the same school for social and emotional reasons. That’s one canard out of the way.

Boys and girls do spend a lot of time thinking about sex. So do many adults. It’s part of what makes us human beings. To imagine that boys and girls will stop thinking about each other in a sexual way if they are taught in different schools is the stuff of madness. Of course, boys and girls of an adolescent age will be thinking about the opposite sex whether they are sitting at the next desk or at a school on the opposite side of town, and there is nothing wrong with that. I would argue that far more healthy relationships can be formed if boys and girls grow up alongside each other, and learn to accept each other as human beings first and foremost, rather than fantasise about each other as sex objects. Helping young people to form natural and affectionate relationships with those of the other sex is a core part of what a school should be doing, and I think this is easier in a co-ed school.

Finally, one has to appreciate that, in coed schools, boys and girls spend an enormous amount of time apart from each other, particularly in boarding schools. Houses are (almost always) single-sex, so in the evenings pupils are with those of their own gender, they sleep on their own, and have breakfast and other meals in their houses in single-sex environments. Games are single-sex as are a variety of other activities. A problem with co-ed schools is that there are too many activities, not too few, when boys and girls are segregated. So girls have ample chance to grow up and be on their own and be with other girls when they want to, as do boys. In their houses, the young will see the older pupils of their own sex acting as the role models who they will want to emulate. In good co-ed schools, men and women will share the top positions, again giving both boys and girls an abundance of figures of their own gender to admire. And, by the way, in co-ed schools, girls join in both rugby and CCF, and boys take part in lacrosse and horse-riding. It is harder for boys to become involved in activities such as food technology, dance and textiles in all-boys schools.

All that said, the plain fact is that some of the best schools in Britain, and indeed the world, are single-sex – including Eton, Harrow, Tonbridge and St Paul’s among the boys’ schools, and Cheltenham Ladies College, Wycombe Abbey, Heathfield St Mary’s and Withington among the girls’. If a league table were to be drawn up for schools internationally, comparable to the table for universities worldwide, I would say that some 15 of the top 20 places would be taken by British single-sex schools. Their contribution to this country over the last 200 years has been immense.

Single-sex schools, whether for girls or boys, also offer some of the most economic and affordable education in the country. The girls’ day school trust operates many such schools, which bring superb and reasonably priced education to many who could not afford the more expensive boarding schools. These schools not only excel in league tables, but also offer sport and the arts at a very high standard.

I am a passionate believer in the continuation in single-sex schools. They are absolutely right for some boys and some girls (though parents, please let your children decide, rather than yourself, based perhaps on outdated notions of your own schooling). To my mind, the key is the child and what the child will want. Parents should also avoid bludgeoning their child into going to a co-ed school if that child has a sense that they would sooner be just with children of their own gender. Long may diversity flourish. Single-sex schools have a unique selling point, and if they moved more on to the front foot and championed their own virtues, rather than trying to attack co-ed schools on false grounds, they would flourish even more. That would be a very good thing for independent education.