Tonbridge School announced this week it is introducing a co-educational Sixth Form from September 2028, with boarding girls following from 2030. Quite a bombshell for a school with that history and tradition. Keen to hear what people think.
What strikes me is the pattern when you look at which schools have gone co-educational and which haven't. The ones holding the single-sex line, Eton, Radley and Harrow, all have substantial endowments and investments, in some cases owning significant land holdings outside the main school campus. Tonbridge by contrast is much more dependent on fee income with modest investment reserves by comparison. The co-educational move brings roughly 100 additional pupils, though it is worth remembering that the additional net income from that alone, once you factor in the infrastructure, staffing and facility costs of accommodating girls, is unlikely to be transformative.
The irreversibility of it is what strikes me most. The announcement frames it in the language of vision, evolution and exciting opportunities. But is this a genuine long term shift in educational philosophy or a financial decision dressed up in aspirational language?
Worth noting too that Tonbridge has always had a significant day boy contingent and is largely weekly boarding, so perhaps this was coming.
Particularly given that the VAT imposition on school fees may not be permanent - its possible that a future government could remove it. If that happens Tonbridge will have made a permanent generational change in response to what, perhaps turned out to be a relatively short term financial pressure.
Once girls are introduced into the Sixth Form is that really where it ends? The logic of full co-education from Year 9 inevitably follows, perhaps within a generation. The school announcing co-ed Sixth Form today is almost certainly announcing full co-education tomorrow.
Ironically every school that makes this move only strengthens the position of Eton, Radley and Harrow as the last great all-boys institutions, making places there even more sought after and oversubscribed than they already are.
Spare a thought too for the families already affected. Boys currently at the school, or with accepted places, chose Tonbridge partly on the basis of an all-boys education. In some cases families may withdraw as a result, which rather undermines the financial logic of the decision in the first place.
Keen to hear all views, including from those who think co-education is genuinely the right direction for the school.