Girls' schools return in US

All-girl schools perform well in UK school league tables

All-girl schools are making a comeback in the United States, reversing a long period of decline.

After several decades in which boys' schools were increasingly opened to a mixed intake, there is now a trend for girls to be taught separately again.

Behind this trend is the belief that girls benefit from being taught in single-sex classrooms, with their performance improving when taken away from the competition and attention seeking of boys.

As well as schools switching to an all-female entry, there are more individual classes - particularly maths and science - in which boys and girls are taught separately.

The National Coalition of Girls' Schools, based in Concord, Massachusetts, says it wants to produce "confident, competent daughters" who are as at ease with technology as boys.

Ongoing debate

Within an all-girl environment, the coalition says, girls can develop greater confidence in sport and debating, as well as in academic subjects.

In a survey of ex-pupils from girls' schools, the coalition says that a very high proportion believed that single-sex education had benefited them and given them greater confidence.

In the United Kingdom, girls' schools have consistently been among the highest-scoring in exam league tables.

However, researchers have suggested that this is because they have high-achieving pupils, and not because they are single-sex.

Ability, as well as social class and the history and traditions of schools, have a greater impact on results girls achieve, according to a review of the available research by London University's Institute of Education.

It said the findings were supported by similar research in the US, Australia and Ireland.

There has been an ongoing debate about whether boys benefit most from mixed classes - and whether this has been at the expense of girls.