Head Master's Blog - Single-Sex, Co-Ed, or Best of Both Worlds?

Educational debate can very easily become polarised and there are few better examples of this than the long-running arguments over single-sex versus co-educational schooling. Traditionally, in one camp are those who champion the unique benefits of bespoke single-sex education which enables greater freedoms away from the narrowing effects of gender stereotypes and, those in the other camp, who argue for the benefits of co-education as a more natural way to educate children as it more closely replicates the ‘real world’.  

Single-Sex versus Co-Education

Although heavily contested on both sides, the academic research on the issue gives greater weight to the arguments in favour of single-sex schooling. Perhaps the best review of the research is Kevin Stannard’s ‘Why (and how) girls thrive in girls-only schools’. Stannard begins from the position that the argument for single-sex schooling does not rely on any notion of fundamental cognitive or biological difference, but rather on the ‘empirical differences [between girls and boys] in perceptions, behaviour, needs, preferences and outcomes.’ Ultimately, the ways in which boys and girls interact, engage and experience education is different and this difference can be most sensitively and effectively managed in single-sex schools.

Stannard evaluates the research evidence to determine four core fundamentals:

• Academic Achievement: girls perform better in single-sex schools
• Subject Choices: participation in maths, science and technology is greater among girls in single-sex schools
• Career Progression: girls from single-sex schools do better in the job market
• Wellbeing: girls are not held back socially by single-sex secondary environments

As someone whose career has spanned single-sex and co-educational schools, my professional experiences confirm these four fundamentals. Whilst it is very clear that transformational educational experience and outstanding schools can be either single-sex or co-educational, there is far greater opportunity in single-sex schools to foster an environment that is powerfully adapted to the specific learning preferences and needs of the students, and, in doing so, realise the significant potential benefits to be derived from single-sex education.

The research into subject choices is particularly striking. There is powerful evidence to show the impact of gender stereotypes on girls’ subject choices in co-educational schools, and how this is redressed through single-sex education. Internationally, take-up among girls of STEM subjects in single-sex schools is notably higher that in co-educational schools.

This is borne out at King’s High where, in recent times, our most popular A Level subject choices have been Chemistry and Biology and where we have strong uptake in Maths and Physics. 64.1% of our sixth form take at least one STEM subject and 56.5% take either Chemistry or Biology. Around a third of our sixth-form students take either A Level Maths of Further Maths, when the national average according to Cambridge

Assessments is 19.8%. Each year, around half of our Upper Sixth leavers go on to study STEM subjects at university.

In a powerful celebration of the impact of girls’ only education, Jo Sharrock, Head at Shrewsbury High School, writes, ‘Girls’ schools are not ivory towers behind which to hide our daughters and protect them from the real world. The girls’ schools of the 21st century are engines of change, where a girl learns without any limits placed upon her and where her confidence and resilience can flourish.’

Sharrock’s rejection of the misperception of single-sex schools as ‘ivory towers’ is important. Far from the myth of girls’ schools as places where students are insulated from the negative effects of gender stereotypes, they are in fact dynamic spaces where negative stereotypes and inequalities can be debated, explored and challenged, instilling the knowledge, skills and confidence to make a valuable impact in the world.

Best of Both Worlds

For decades, it has been common practice for single-sex schools to develop partnerships locally to enable a range of fruitful social and co-curricular collaborations between boys and girls. In the Warwick Independent Schools Foundation King’s High and Warwick School have long experience of such collaboration. In recent times it has been incredibly exciting to take this to a new level as part of our unique and powerful educational vision, ‘The Best of Both Worlds’, which combines the very highest standards of single-sex education in the classroom with extensive opportunities for girls and boys to collaborate and work together throughout their school journey. As such, it offers a compelling alternative to the polarised arguments about single-sex versus co-education.

The Best of Both Worlds is an innovative model which embeds co-educational endeavour throughout the school experience of our students. The Best of Both Worlds journey develops as students progress through the schools. At King’s High and Warwick School our students play together at lunchtime, attend joint assemblies, services and events, share co-curricular opportunities such as lectures, visits and trips. From Year 9 onwards, our Friday Afternoon Activities Programme provides the opportunity for every King’s High and Warwick School pupil to participate in a range of varied and valuable co-curricular activities in a co-educational setting.

Our Combined Cadet Force and Young Enterprise Programme are notable success with equal numbers of girls and boys involved, sharing in a broad range of leadership opportunities. Alongside a fantastic range of collaborative opportunities in music and drama, with joint productions, ensembles and orchestras, the Best of Both Worlds provides a unique and exciting new educational vision for our students on our shared campus. This culminates in our superb shared Sixth Form Centre, where lessons remain single sex, but pupils across King’s High and Warwick School share the same bespoke social and private study space. 

As we look ahead to the future, and to an educational experience unrestricted by the parameters of Covid-19, I am excited to continue the work to extend and further enrich the powerful Best of Both Worlds experiences of our students. In doing so, we are able to offer a compelling alternative to the ancient ‘single-sex/co-ed’ debates which blends the highest standards of both educational models to provide the very best preparation for the future.

Dr Stephen Burley, Head Master