One of the most important things you can give your daughter is self-confidence and self-belief – qualities that girls’ schools deliver in abundance.
Freedom from stereotypes
Girls’ schools minimise stereotyped, gender-weighted expectations. There is no such thing as a girl’s subject or a boy’s subject and girls are free to follow their inclinations with little of the pressure they might otherwise feel.
Independent research by the Institute of Physics, for example, has found that girls who attended girls’ schools were significantly more likely to study Physics to A Level than girls in co-ed schools, and this proved to be the case in both state and independent schools(1). Research also suggests that the largest increases in girls’ participation in sport tend to happen in single-sex contexts.(2)
Leadership opportunities
Girls’ schools create environments where girls feel confident to take charge and put themselves forward. With only girls in the classroom and on the sports field, both intellectual and physical confidence can grow.
Every girl has every opportunity to become a leader, a form captain, a Head of House. They learn not just how to shoulder responsibility, but also how to take risks, inspire and lead others, developing resilience and self-confidence to stand them in good stead when they go on to encounter university, work and life.
Academic excellence
Girls who attend GSA girls’ schools tend to achieve a disproportionately large share of the top grades. For example, in 2019, the proportion of top A-star-A grades at A level achieved by GSA students (53.1%) was more than twice the national average (25.2%) for England. The proportion of A-star-C grades among GSA students (92.2%) was over a fifth greater than the national average (75.5%).
Maths is the most popular A level subject in many GSA girls’ schools and, in the country as a whole, GSA girls who sit A level physics account for around 13% of all entries, while being responsible for as many as 25% of the A-star grades.*
Girls in all GSA schools combined can be twice as likely as other girls to take French or Spanish at A level. For example, the GSA girls who sit A level French account for around 12% of all entries, while being responsible for as many as 32% of the A-star grades.*
*DfE exam data – exact statistics vary from year to year.
Find out more – Why an all-girls’ education?
Original article – Benefits of girls’ schools – Girls’ School Association
