So what are the arguments?

• Those in favour of single-sex education cite the generally higher achievement in public examinations by both boys’ and girls’ schools in comparison with co-educational schools. They believe that adolescents perform better if they are allowed to develop at their own pace, without the distractions of the opposite sex and without unhelpful gender-typing (eg girls don’t do hard science).


• Those in favour of co-education believe that, in a world where the sexes have to work together, there is no justification for educating them separately, and opportunities such as boys learning to cook or girls joining the CCF are more likely to be available in co-ed schools.


• Those in favour of single-sex teaching to 16, followed by a mixed sixth see as being the best of both worlds and can make a sensible stepping stone from single-sex education to the hurly-burly of university life. But girls entering the sixth form in a boys’ school (or boys to a sixth form in a girls’ school) need to be mature for their age and have both a sense of humour and a robust character.

Then there is the detail. Some single-sex schools have a range of activities with other schools, so pupils can play in orchestras, take part in debates and outings etc with pupils of the opposite sex; others are, perhaps depressingly, isolated. Schools that have recently become co-educational should be looked at carefully to see that they have done so successfully. To do this successfully requires considerable adjustments, not only to the physical environment but to the social structures, sports offered and school ethos. Some schools manage this better than others.

In practice – as so often – different approaches will suit different children.