GIRLS DO BETTER WITHOUT BOYS

Getting the best for girls has always been a vexed issue. Do they do better in single-sex schools or when taught alongside boys? In recent years, single-sex schools have been tarred as old-fashioned and antiquated, a throwback to the Victorian era, but a report published last week looks like the last word on the issue: girls really do do better in single-sex schools.

The study, by The Good Schools Guide, followed 700,000 girls and found that those who sat GCSEs in single-sex state schools all did better than could have been predicted by their scores at the end of primary school.

By contrast, 20% of those who attended coed schools did worse than could have been expected from their school records, aged 11. The effect was even more marked among less clever girls.

Janette Wallis, who commissioned the research, says: “To disregard the evidence of this study would be a mistake. We never expected to see such a difference.”

According to Wallis, although her research focuses on GCSE results, the findings hold true for sixth-form study too. “Attending a single-sex school is likely to have a positive impact on girls’ academic performance up to the age of 18,” she says.