Co-ed vs Single-sex schools: who performs better?
Debate over the benefits of co-education versus single-sex schools has long raged, but experts say there is one key factor in predicting success.
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DEBATE over the benefits of co-education versus single-sex schools has long raged, but recent results show students are achieving academic success at both.
A Courier-Mail analysis has shown it was an even split between single-sex and co-education among the top 20 schools in last year’s OP performance, with experts saying socio-economic factors have a higher rate of predicting success.
Sunshine Coast Grammar and Somerset College were among the top co-ed schools, with Brisbane Grammar School and Brisbane Girls Grammar the highest-performing single-sex schools.
In Queensland, all state schools are co-educational, but parents are also increasingly opting to send their kids to private co-education schools.
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Despite stereotypes that girls were less confident in classes such as math and science when paired with boys, Somerset College headmaster Craig Bassingthwaighte said he had seen no evidence that either sex was disadvantaged by being at school together.
“All of the work that we’re doing here debunks that completely,” he said.
“Our students engage in a learning process with other genders and that’s what happens in life, you have to learn to get on with everyone around you.”
Griffith University’s deputy head of school (academic), Dr Glenda McGregor, said there was limited research which definitively proved the academic advantages of single-sex education.
She said many private schools opted to retain single-sex enrolments for religious and cultural reasons.
“Many single sex-schools are private, fee-paying institutions so the students may be drawn largely from more advantaged backgrounds.
“Gender stereotypes do intrude into schools and young people may subscribe to them, but this will happen regardless of whether schools are same-sex or co-ed.”
Brisbane’s Marie-Therese Tornquist said she was considering sending her sons to boys school St Laurence’s College, though ultimately it would depend on which school suited best.
“We don’t necessarily need our boys to go into a single sex school … (but) boys I think could lose their focus in a co-ed school, so we’re kind of happy for the boys to be out of that pressure,” she said.
St Laurence’s College principal Chris Leadbetter said good teaching happened across schools in all sectors, but the college was structured to “support boys’ learning”.
“Boys thrive with a mix of routine, strong structure and the opportunity to be creative,” he said.
TOP 5 SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS
Brisbane Grammar School
Brisbane Girls Grammar School
St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace
All Hallows’ School
Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie)
TOP 5 CO-ED SCHOOLS
Brisbane State High School
Toogoolawah State High School
Sunshine Coast Grammar School
Roma State College
Cannon Hill Anglican School
*ranked by highest % of OP1-5 of OP students
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