Westminster School going co-ed

[jobadoo]

Newspapers report today that Westminster School will start admitinggirls in the Under School and Senior School, going fully co-ed by 2030. I don't understand why only boys schools going co-ed and not girls schools, setting aside the academic argument that girls bring better results. Or maybe that's the only reason?

It will probably have an impact on St Paul's girls given they don't have a 7+ intake. DS is currently in the under school and this has created a lot of uncertainty in terms of when this will kick in since assumption is that when it does not everyone who wants to stay on will be able to do so.

I don't think boys in the Under School automatically transfer to the main school unless they join at 11+, do they? So that would be the same admissions point as all the more competitive girls' schools.

City of London 7+ is coed till 11. Westminster probably following this trend.
Engineering and Maths in Imperial, Oxbridge have females but most seems to be educated in Asia or Eastern Europe. Maybe their early years Maths programme is better to build foundation for STEM.

This is the observation I have. At uni, almost all local girls in the maths, physics and CS department come from girls schools. It shows the benefits of girls school removing stigma of girls going into STEM.

Having gone girls school and one of the uni you quoted, I blame it on the culture in the UK.
Women are proud to say that they are bad with numbers. Girls get teased for studying STEM.

London: Sexism and the City | Financial Times (ft.com)
Of all the City professions, banking is the most notorious for its male bias. The FT data shows that just 16.2 per cent of City banks’ managing director level posts are held by women. (If you’re a homegrown British woman, the odds appear even more stacked against you — the handful of senior female bankers in the City are predominantly foreign. To thrive in the cut-throat world of investment banking requires a certain swagger that perhaps just isn’t synonymous with deferential Britishness.)

One observation I have, the 11+ exam, top girls grammar school in London heavily weighted on English subject but not maths. Top boys grammar focus more on maths. Top private schools (girls boys or coed) are more a mixed picture but in general a lot of girls private selective also give more weights on English subject during their entrance exam.

Winchester is also going co-ed, isn't it?

'Top' and ancient organisations like Westminster have survived and flourished because they have adapted. Generally, they adapt early and they adapt well. Their decision to go co-ed seems a business decision.

Westminster has already had girls in their Sixth Form for some time now. Clearly they now consider that their 'brand' will be stronger with girls throughout the school. I don't think this is about exam results: theirs are ridiculously strong anyway. No, I think it's about the 'market' telling them what is wanted by wealthy and academically ambitious families, many with international connections personally or professionally or both. These 'buyers' want co-ed schools by and large, considering them normal and natural.

At the same time, clearly Westminster will also pick up some top girls well before age 16. We know several families in London alone which will jump at the chance.

The usual outcomes about girls and boys don't apply to an elite school such as Westminster. By contrast, they do apply strongly to pretty much all state non-selective schools.

"The usual outcomes about girls and boys don't apply to an elite school such as Westminster"

@Dido2010 it does apply, you can check subject and university destinations in each 'elite' school website, there are clear difference between boys and girls schools.

@UnicornRidge lack of women at professions such as banking is primarily due to lack of childcare support. There are plenty of women in banking at junior levels but many drop out around childbearing age.

Back to the topic, is there anyway top girls schools can be encouraged to take boys in? Starting with schools such as SPGS, G&L, which operate in the same geographical market and clientele?

@jobadoo , I think it's unlikely, dd perform better in all girl settings and bringing in ds won't move a school up the academic results table. All girl schools don't have the "everyone's invited" issues either.

How about giving girls exposure to the opposite sex in a nurturing and balanced environment?

My ds will be at W but won’t see the girls there till 6th form. No matter.

The trend that could be driving part of this is that lots boys are opting to move at 11 to places like City, Highgate and Latimer Upper. The 13 plus entry stage has become more of an exception. Westminster will be the first London day school offering a female 13plus entry. That could be very attractive for parents of bright girls happy to stay at a cosy prep and delay a move while a few of the difficult years are done with. This will help the feeder preps that might have seen a bit of a slump in 13plus students.

Why don't schools like SPGS, G&L and other top girls schools admit boys to sixth form, for a start?
They seem to be behind the boys schools for decades.

I have DCs at single sex and coed schools and think there is a place for both.
But I think it would be very hard to introduce boys into a sixth form at an all girls school and many parents would be unhappy.
I think there's a big difference in having 16/17/18 year old girls in a mainly all boys school and having 16/17/18 year old boys in an all girls school. Would change the atmosphere completely.
Interestingly I think St Paul's boys has quietly dropped the idea of girls in the 6th form. Big backlash from parents apparently.

SPS and SPGS already do a lot of stuff together. It’s easy for them to do coed- lite which addresses the issue. On the other hand I think City girls and boys should merge and find a better site.

I dunno, I think the City Boys site is fairly spectacular (the City Girls one is smaller) and in a lovely, central spot. Realistically any move could mean to a completely different area.

Maybe an opportunity for the City of London corporation to repurpose some redundant office space and give the schools a proper endowment. But off topic.

Does it give anyone else the creeps to see the Corens shopping their old school ties in the papers? Unseemly.

@CrankyP I think on the contrary City corporatation schools location sites are way closer than SPGS and SPG. City junior already an Coed on a single site. Both City boy and girl senior schools had a lot of collaboration already, but compared to St Paul's, City benifits more in colab as the governor structure and ownership by City corporatation.

I have a daughter at SPGS and I don't want them to admit boys in any year. I think lots of parents there feel the same or they would have chosen a coed school of which there already are some. There are quite a lot of ways in which being at a single sex school is better for girls. My daughter chose single sex education and has zero desire to attend a coed sixth form (she went to a mixed sex school throughout primary).

Presumably, Westminster will need more girls only dorms. Also, less of a reason for them to recruit so many in the sixth form when it’s a coed cohort already. But I think that things like sport are less of an issue these days because girls play football and cricket etc. maybe they will have a decent shot at girls rowing now.

Cranky - what were you referring to about the Corens?

And on why girls schools don’t admit boys, like Bonjour I have a dd at SPGS who specifically chose all girls after a mixed sex primary.

She isn’t that keen on joint events with the boys school, and it’s a general issue - they had a few sixth form boys from SPS in to talk to the girls about what would make joint events more attractive to them, and about how the girls view boys from SPS.

The boys haven’t done anything wrong, it’s just the girls are very happy without them. It’s not like they don’t meet boys outside school!

There is also an element of the girls feeling like they are being used to help socialise boys in the wake of Everyone’s Invited, without much in it for them.

Everyone Invited had all the girls schools listed on it. Also, some of the dates were from long ago whereas the current cultural norm would be a no!
Important to get both male and females to undertake what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour before going to universities and workplace. Also, social settings and helping your peer group.
Westminster going fully coed. Great choice for families who wants their daughters to have the same education as their sons.

Then they go to schools like SPGS. Why is it ok to leave the SPGS / SPS model as is but mess with the Westminster one. Maybe the reason it was so successful so far is because it was all boys school until 6 form.
What’s done is done but doesn’t mean it may work. Some parents actually do want an all boys schools model!

Up thread there are references to articles written by Giles Coren and wife Esther about each going to Westminster. I suppose I think it’s rather desperate and trivial.