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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to prefer an all girls state secondary for my daughters?

163 replies

PlumCat23 · 18/08/2026 17:51

Aibu to want my daughters to go to an all girls state secondary with a very good reputation? It's where they would like to go too but dh has reservations. They are academic, sporty, outgoing girls so I feel they would thrive. Please tell me the pros & cons!

OP posts:
BirdLandedonmyHead · 18/08/2026 18:40

I eent to all girls Sixth Form after mixed Secondary.

It was fantastic not to have to deal with misogny all day.

Ny DDs have a similar problem at school. The boys are louder and just dominate everywhere.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 18/08/2026 18:39

No 750-1000 teenage boys in the same spaces as them.

That's the win right there.

monkeysox · 18/08/2026 18:36

PlumCat23 · 18/08/2026 17:57

I just want to know other people's experiences of all girls schools. My dds are currently in a mixed primary so we don't know any different

Most people dont have a choice. I don't know of any single sex state schools.

TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne · 18/08/2026 18:36

I went to one in the 1970s. I didn't have any brothers.

I didn't start meeting or mixing with boys until I was 18 as a result, and I don't think that was a good thing.

Lilylady · 18/08/2026 18:35

I had major reservations about my daughter going to an all girls school but it has honestly been the best thing for her, she has thrived. However, when the time comes, we are encouraging her to go to a mixed sixth form so she has experience of all.

Fifthtimelucky · 18/08/2026 18:17

My daughters went to a girls school and loved it. I often read that girls schools are cliquey and that there is lots of bitchiness. They experienced neither.

There was a nearby boys school so they socialised on the train and the schools organised some joint
activities.

A lot obviously depends on the individual schools
concerned but, everything else being equal, I would always choose a girls school.

Edited to add that my daughters were at a mixed primary.

Original poster
PlumCat23 · 18/08/2026 18:03

redskyAtNigh · 18/08/2026 17:58

Well what reservations does DH have? Are they justified?

I don't think so. He says they won't be used to boys & how to mix with them. I don't think that's right as there are boys in their extracurricular who they are already friends with ..

OP posts:
Thejugglestruggle · 18/08/2026 18:00

I went to an all girls school. Academically, it was great. I think it probably made things like friendship groups, cliques, competitiveness more intense.
I would also say it had a profound effect on how I saw boys/men for my adolescence and a good deal of early adulthood. Boys and men were never friends.

TryingToStayAwake88 · 18/08/2026 17:59

There is a great BBC podcast called Bringing up Britain which has an episode on the pros and cons of single set education for girls.

redskyAtNigh · 18/08/2026 17:58

Well what reservations does DH have? Are they justified?

Original poster
PlumCat23 · 18/08/2026 17:57

I just want to know other people's experiences of all girls schools. My dds are currently in a mixed primary so we don't know any different

OP posts:
WallowingInMud · 18/08/2026 17:52

How can anyone answer this? It totally depends on the individual schools you have in mind.