abingdon.org.uk/prep 15 ABINGDON NEWS There are multiple reasons for this move but concern about the prospect of falling pupil numbers is not high. Abingdon has been consistently over-subscribed and maintains long waiting lists for places. So what is the rationale behind the change? The first thing to know is that Abingdon has never made a big deal out of its single sex status or suggested that it felt that ‘single sex is best’. If you look at any of its marketing and publicity for at least the past 20 years, it talks about being highly academic, about its enviably wide co-curricular offering and about its excellent pastoral care: you won’t find it championing the idea that boys-only is better. Its teachers don’t believe that boys and girls learn in distinctly different ways. Differences in ‘preferred learning styles’ are as observable across the individual sexes as they are when you look at both sexes put together. When asked why it has kept all-boys up until now, it points to three things. Firstly, as an oversubscribed school, the impetus for change has been on a gentle build, with an argument of “don’t fix what isn’t broken”. Secondly, its partnerships programme and liaison with St Helen and St Katherine have provided some co-ed opportunities for pupils. Thirdly, the benefits that come from the simplicity of boarding and sports arrangements for only one sex. However, the feeling that Abingdon’s single sex model appears old fashioned and not suited for the 21st Century has been increasing for more than a decade. Single sex education was born in an era when the expectations for the sexes were vastly different and opportunities for men and women, mismatched. Thankfully today, things are different and Abingdon believes the education it provides should reflect that. People learn about themselves and the world in relation to each other, so it would seem odd that girls and boys are separated from one another during a crucial period of their adolescence. The changes Abingdon anticipates are all positive - as cultural diversity and enrichment tends to be. The Single sex vs co-ed: a view from 2025 by Graeme May, Senior Deputy Head, Abingdon School Founded in 1256, Abingdon School is one of the oldest in the UK - and it has been an all-boys school for all of its 750 plus years since that point. With such a history behind it, one might expect it to be steeped in tradition and very reluctant to contemplate change. And yet, in May 2024, the school made public its plans to start accepting girls from 2026 (and indeed, girls have already started arriving in its prep school). school’s amazing educational offering will be available to the other half of the population (i.e. the girls) and those girls will bring with them an exciting difference of viewpoint and approach which will make the educational experience deeper. There will still be a place for single-sex education in the UK, though it will probably become the preserve of the all-girls schools. Despite educational research suggesting that, when you filter out for differences in things like socio-economic background, there is effectively no difference in outcomes for pupils in single sex schools versus the co-educational ones, some schools (and parents) nevertheless continue to believe there is a difference. Abingdon has done its research on this issue and points to pieces of work like the Alan Smithers report for HMC in 2006 that concludes with this telling final sentence, effectively debunking the notion girls and boys necessarily do better if they are separated: “There are excellent single-sex schools and excellent co-educational schools. Our conclusion is that they are excellent for reasons other than that they separate, or bring together, the sexes for their education.” Abingdon has considered the argument that girls are put off from taking STEM subjects in Sixth Form if they come from a co-ed background but the research does not back this up when considering high-ability pupils. A study by the Institute of Physics, identifies that there is a large difference observed when considering girls of all abilities, when just the top band of GCSE achievement is considered, the picture is rather different. In other words, academically selective co-ed schools - such as Abingdon - will be places where girls feel empowered to study STEM subjects if that is where their interests lie - just as is the case for boys. In conclusion, Abingdon is tremendously excited about the richness and diversity that the arrival of girls will bring.
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