Co-ed schools take the lead over their single-sex rivals in VCE results

Co-educational schools nudged ahead of their single-sex rivals in VCE results last year, as parents grapple with choosing the type of education that will get the best results for their children.

But all-girls schools continue to dominate their boys-only counterparts, both in the most recent results and in longer-term trends.

Amy Reed and husband Owen Hereford and their daughters (from left) Bella (year 8), Elizabeth (year 10) and Grace (year 12), who attend Ruyton Girls’ School in Kew.Credit: Penny Stephens

Thirteen girls’ schools recorded a 2023 VCE median study score of 35 or more, compared to six boys’ schools and 15 co-ed schools. Eight of the schools with a median score of 36 or above were girls’ schools, eight were co-ed and two were all-boys schools.

The gender divide was even more stark for higher results.

Of those that recorded 37 and over, five were co-ed and one was an all-girls school. No boys’ schools recorded a median score over 36. Only one school, the co-ed Ballarat Clarendon College, recorded the highest median study score of 39.

Education consultant Paul O’Shannassy, who advises parents on private schools, said girls’ and co-ed schools would perform even better if VCE results included the talents of students taking the International Baccalaureate program, which boys’ schools were less likely to offer.

O’Shannassy said co-ed schools had become more popular in recent years, as people sought an education that better reflected society at large. But he said results would always play a part in selection.

“For some people those numbers are hugely important,” he said. “Migrant families live and die by them.”

Girls-only schools have consistently outperformed boys’ schools in VCE median study scores.

Over the past three years, 14 girls’ schools achieved an average study score of 35 or more, compared to 11 co-ed and six boys’ schools.

In 2022, 10 girls’ schools achieved a median study score of 36 or higher, compared to seven co-ed and two all boys. In 2021, nine girls’ schools, seven co-ed and one boys’ school recorded a score of 36 or higher.

For Amy Reed, the choice for her three daughters was based more on location and size rather than gender.

But she hasn’t once doubted her decision to send them to Ruyton Girls’ School, which last year was one of five schools – the other four are co-ed – to record a top median study score of 37.

“We did look around for co-ed but what I loved about Ruyton was the fact that it’s got a brother school with Trinity [Grammar School], so we felt that was the best of both worlds,” she said.

Reed said a girls-only school allowed her daughters an environment where “they just don’t hold back”.

Her eldest daughter has been studying maths in a combined class with Trinity boys and finished the year at the top of the class, contradicting the stereotype of boys being better at the subject.

“I was really happy because I was like, ‘You got to year 11 and 12 being really confident in your learning ability’,” Reed said. “‘And now you’re learning with the boys, and you can stand up yourself and you can feel proud and not be scared to be successful.’”

Centre for Independent Studies research fellow Trisha Jha said girls consistently outperformed boys in reading and writing in NAPLAN exams, so that would naturally translate to success in VCE tests, which were largely contingent on the same domains.

“However, that fact on its own doesn’t help us to answer the question of which schools [single-six or co-ed] will benefit which students more,” Jha said.

Dr Kate Lafferty from La Trobe University’s School of Education agreed there was no definitive answer to whether students performed better in a single-sex or co-ed environment.

She said while raw data for median study scores suggested girls performed better in single-sex schools, “the question is possibly more to do with which girls and which boys”.

“The backgrounds, achievement motivations, etcetera will all play a part in the school context,” she said.

There are almost 600 schools offering secondary education in Victoria, according to the 2022 data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. Of those, about 45 are girls’ schools and 21 are all boys.

Of the 34 schools that recorded a median study score of 35 or more last year, at least 20 charged more than $30,000 in annual tuition. The only public schools on the list were selective schools.

“Choice of school needs to be based on the individual needs of the child,” Lafferty said. “Wellbeing and learning are interconnected so ensuring the school is a ‘good fit’ would be the priority I would focus on.”

Ruyton principal Linda Douglas, also a governing director of the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools, said while girls didn’t learn differently to boys, their experiences of school tended to be different, typically preferring co-operative, discussion-led learning and collaborative activities.

“Young girls also often adapt their behaviour in the presence of boys – to their own disadvantage,” Douglas said.

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