Here at Queenswood, it has been self-evident for many years that our single-sex environment is especially conducive to academic success. In the summer of 2015, for instance, 100% of GCSE students achieved at least five A*-C grades, including English and Maths at IGCSE, and indeed half of them achieved at least eight A*/A grades. Now a study by educational data analysts SchoolDash confirms it: girls really do fare better in girls’ schools.

At the start of January, Richard Cairns, Head Master of Brighton College, wrote an article for Independent School Parent, in which he expressed that he was perplexed that parents of girls were “swayed by outdated notions about girls performing better in single sex schools” and that if girls do not socialise with boys as children, they are at a “huge disadvantage” when they go out into the workplace if they cannot “meaningfully converse with male colleagues.”

Girls in girls’ schools achieve higher GCSE results

This is an entirely understandable position to take as the Head of a co-educational school, but I do not agree that the notions are outdated at all.  Yesterday saw the publication of a study by educational data analysts SchoolDash on last week’s GCSE data release.  They created a control group to try to take into account selection policies, pupils’ prior attainment, and those groups with English as an additional language, with special educational needs and who are classed as disadvantaged.

The conclusion was clear.  Girls in girls’ schools really did have better GCSE results this year – the proportion achieving five A*-C grades including English and Maths was 3% higher in girls’ schools than in co-educational schools.  Without the control group, just analysing the raw data, the proportion was a staggering 20% higher. 

Preparing  girls for the challenges of modern life

Cairns’ second point is unnecessarily narrow: any young person will be at a disadvantage if they are not able to converse with others – this is not a problem limited to girls alone.  Nor is it correct to suggest that girls can only socialise with boys at school – what about their male family members, their friends’ brothers, and the third of the year which is school holiday?

At Queenswood, we understand that our pupil body cannot be representative of the population as a whole, and it is why we work hard to prepare our girls for the challenges of modern life.  It is why we encourage public speaking, debating, independence of thought and leadership roles; and it is why we enrich the girls’ education by meeting and listening to people from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible – from finance to prison, from entrepreneurship to exploration, from animation to quantum physics.  We have all had the chance to listen to, and question nationally renowned figures on their own subjects – Germaine Greer, Robert Winston, Matthew Syed, and, in February, Brian Cox.

It does not strike me that our girls are disadvantaged by their environment at all – and they have exceptionally good grades too.

Professor Lord Robert Winston with Queenswood Sixth Formers