Girls in single sex schools do better?

With A level and GCSE results due out in August in England and Wales, they will most probably indicate again that girls who attend all-girls schools get better exam results than those who go to mixed schools. Is this because the environment in which these girls learn is more favourable for learning or is it more complicated than that?

A recent report by FFT Datalab, the expert analysts of education data, indicates that last year when comparing the results of pupils at Key Stage 4 in state-funded schools, the mean attainment of grade 8 score for girls in single-sexed schools was 59.0% compared with 46.3% for girls in mixed schools.

FFT Datalab also reported that only 6% of school age girls attend single sexed schools and 81% of those girls’ schools has a sixth form and 32% are selective and most have converted to academies.

FFT Datalab also reported that only 6% of school age girls attend single sexed schools and 81% of those girls’ schools has a sixth form and 32% are selective and most have converted to academies.

Those are the bare facts but what factors translate into greater academic success? To some extent that is still unexplained because when wider characteristics of schools are analysed, single sexed schools do better in the national average at GCSE level, but they are very similar to mixed schools of a similar nature (selective intake, socio-economic background, presence of sixth forms and so on).   

Anyone who has worked in a girl’s school will tell you anecdotally that the behavioural and academic atmosphere is completely different than in a boys only and mixed schools, and some would argue, more conducive for learning.  Could it be that mixed gender classrooms are sometimes dominated by louder boys, the boys demand more attention from the teacher and so girls get less teacher time?  Girls are more likely to succeed in maths, science and computing in the absence of boys. This is thought to be because these subjects are perceived to be ‘male’ subjects, not only in the number of boys taking them but also because science teachers are predominantly men and set a precedent.

These subtle influential differences are very hard to quantify but parents recognise the benefit of sending their daughters to girls’ schools and that is why admissions to many single sexed girls’ schools are oversubscribed.