I went to an all girls’ school – but I’d never send my daughter to one  

Apparently private all-girls’ schools are, thanks to the VAT increase, closing down at an even faster rate than Elon Musk is having illegitimate children. Some say this is bad news for opportunities for girls, but I’m shedding no tears, even though I went to a single-sex school myself.While girls’ schools should be bastions of gender equality, opportunity and social mobility, they still have a reputation for hothousing, competitive environments and eating disorders. I encountered all these things at my school in the 90s and have heard anecdotally from other parents and teacher friends, that they continue to grapple with them today.

One who took her daughters out of two private all-girls’ schools in Warwickshire to move them into a co-ed school where they are now thriving. Another, whose daughter got into a highly sought-after institution in South London, hated it and demanded to go to the local co-ed comprehensive instead, where she is much happier. They found the all-girls environment too competitive. I have no plans to send my own daughter to a single-sex school. (I do not think the problems at single-sex schools are unique to the private sector. We have several single sex grammars here too and the issues seem similarly prevalent.)

I have seen, both from my own childhood and as a mother of sons and a daughter, that friendship issues tend to be more problematic – and dramatic – with girls. In my experience, putting them all together can only lead to heightened emotions. Having boys around can help take the heat out of things a bit.

Much evidence, however, suggests girls do better academically at single-sex schools. They are 10 per cent more likely to get better GSCE results than their co-ed peers, according to a recent study by FFT education data firm.

One study by the Girls’ School Association (GSA) found that girls were more than five times as likely to play cricket and 30 per cent more likely to play football than if they attended a mixed school.

Girls were also found to be more than twice as likely to take physics and computer science at A-level and almost three times as likely to take further maths. Getting more girls into STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), where women typically account for less than a third of the workforce, can only be a good thing.

Donna Stevens, the chief executive of the GSA has argued that girls concentrate better and excel in single-sex schools. Cheryl Giovannoni, the chief executive of the Girls’ Day School Trust, says: “We continue to argue that the real value is added when girls are given the space they deserve to develop their full potential.”

I can see their point, and my daughter, Jemima, who has two older brothers taking up space and noise at home, might even concur – but I still think the pros outweigh the cons with co-educational schools.

Mixed schools are more reflective of society – and dilute the ‘them and us’ mentality that we had at my all-girls school. If I hadn’t had a big brother, boys might have seemed even more mysterious, whereas my kids, who are all at co-ed schools, see both sexes as just classmates. This can only be a good thing as they go into the world.

It has been suggested there is an all-girls’ school mentality: one of my favourite authors, Jilly Cooper, for example, who went to the Godolphin School in Salisbury, with her famously racy and raunchy books, is probably quite typical of an all-girls school. Claudia Winkleman, who went to the City of London School for Girls, is another. They have that slightly naughty, fun but also friendly air about them.

Yet girls shouldn’t have to go to single-sex schools to shine with this sense of quiet confidence and rebelliousness. We know that women can still be easily suppressed by men, and that in an ideal world, not least in the classroom, that shouldn’t happen. In some countries, such as Sweden, there are no single-sex schools, and this has probably gone some way in contributing to their democratic, egalitarian society (for example, half of the country’s chief executives are women).

So if we truly want equality, and what sane woman doesn’t, shouldn’t we be striving for a world where single-sex schools aren’t needed? Although I might be a product of one, I still wouldn’t send my daughter to one.