The Proven Power of Girls’ Education

Excel Academically

• Girls in girls’ schools GCSE attainment is 20% higher in their best eight subjects (GCSE Attainment 8 Score) than girls in co-ed schools.
• 68% of GSA parents choose GSA schools because of their “academic excellence”.

Have Greater Confidence & Emotional Intelligence

Girls in girls’ schools are more confident, rounded young women who have a mastery over their emotional control in comparison to girls in mixed schools. Savvy, happy and motivated, girls who attend single-sex girls’ schools are more confident and have more emotional grip and mastery than girls in mixed schools. Findings also reveal that our girls generally possess higher mental toughness scores than those in other schools. Put simply, our girls believe in themselves.

• Less than 1 in 5 alumnae, parents and teachers believe that they, their child, or their students, would have developed the same confidence in a co-ed school.

Are Trailblazers

Our girls are, and always have been, firebrands and trailblazing campaigners.

Inspiring women who have benefitted from an education in our schools include Habiba Daggash, a chemical engineer transforming global energy systems to secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future for all. Soma Sara multi-award winning activist, author, speaker, and CEO of the charity ‘Everyone’s Invited’, Vickie Hawkins of Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist for girls' education.

Buss and Beale, the founders of The Girls’ Schools Association Miss Buss and Miss Beale founded the GSA in 1874 so that young women could enjoy an education that was equal to that of their brothers; advocating for girls and campaigning for a complete education for young women; working with Government to create a more equitable education for girls; pushing for exam equality, and promoting sports for girls. They are pioneering women on whose shoulders we stand on today.

Kotska Wallace an alumna of Manchester High School for Girls As Principal Engineer at the European Space Agency, Kotska and her team successfully launched the EarthCARE satellite, from California. Using a laser and radar it explores how clouds influence the climate and helps to fill vital gaps in the understanding of climate change.

Naila, a student at Glendower Preparatory School As Children’s Deputy Prime Minister, Naila has been spending the year meeting MPs to raise young people’s concerns, and to help them to be heard, and listened to. She works alongside fellow parliamentarians to bring together events, and raise issues, for the benefit of every young person.

Victoria Harrisson, an alumna of Walthamstow Hall, HM Ambassador to Slovenia Victoria Harrison is the HM Ambassador to Slovenia. She is the first blind person to be appointed to the role of British Ambassador. Serving as a diplomat, Victoria is showing the world that everybody can pursue their dream career, and is an inspiring role model for every girl, and woman, in the world.

Nemone Lethbridge, an alumna of Tudor Hall School Nemone Lethbridge has enjoyed a trailblazing career that has defied expectations and broken barriers. One of the few women to enter the legal profession in the 1950s, Nemone overcame deep-rooted prejudice to build a career as a barrister, despite being told at Oxford that a woman at the Bar was "ludicrous." She became a leading defence counsel, enjoyed a successful broadcasting and writing career, and went on to found the Our Lady of Good Counsel Law Centre, to help those in her local community.

Soma Sara, an alumna of Wycombe Abbey School Soma Sara is the founder and CEO of Everyone’s Invited, she was awarded an MBE in the 2025 New Year Honours List for her tireless efforts to expose and eradicate rape culture with empathy, compassion, and understanding. In June 2020, she founded Everyone’s Invited, creating a safe space for survivors to share their stories anonymously, in an empowering a movement that has sparked conversations with millions worldwide.

Charlotte Irving, an alumna of Lady Eleanor Holles Charlotte smashed the men’s Pacific rowing record. An unstoppable force of endurance rowing, Charlotte, with her teammates finished in just 38 days, one hour and 34 minutes, setting the new world record.

Conquer Stereotypes

Our girls continue to be the driving force behind creating a more equal world; they are actively engaged citizens and future change-makers.

• 39.6% of pupils agreed or strongly agreed that their gender influences what people think about them.
• This compares to 16.3% of pupils who agreed or strongly agreed that their gender impacts the activities that pupils are offered at school.
• Pupils felt, on average, that activities outside of school (2.65 out of 5) were 12.5% more affected by their gender, than those inside of school (2.15 out of 5).

Love Science and Maths and are Financially Aware

• Girls in girls’ schools are significantly more likely to study STEM subjects at A-level compared to girls in other schools:
  • 2.9 times as likely to take Further Maths.
  • More than twice as likely to take Physics.
  • For Biology 38%, for Computer Science 79%, for Chemistry 83%, and for Maths 87%.
• Girls in girls’ schools are significantly more likely to study STEM subjects at University:
  • More than 4 times as likely to apply to study Maths, twice as likely to apply to study Physical and Biological Science, and 40% more likely to apply to study Engineering.
• Girls in girls’ schools are significantly more likely to enter STEM based careers:
  • Half of girls’ school alumnae have worked in a STEM based career.
  • Nationally only 8% of working women currently work in STEM.
• Girls in girls’ schools are significantly more likely to enter a career in finance:
  • 1 in 6 girls’ school alumnae have worked in a finance-based role.
  • Nationally only 3% of working women currently work in finance.
• Financial stability was the top ambition from a survey of over 5,000 girls in girls’ schools.

Triumph as Neurodivergent and from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

• Girls from disadvantaged backgrounds have higher levels of wellbeing and self-awareness than their more advantaged peers at mixed schools.
• Girls with SEND have higher self-awareness than girls without SEND at mixed schools.

Play the Most Sport

• Girls in girls’ schools have higher levels of sport participation, on average participating in 25% more PE in their curriculum, in comparison to girls, nationally.
• Girls in girls’ schools are 5 times more likely to play cricket and 30% more likely to play football compared to girls in co-ed schools.
• Nationally, there is a significant decline in girls playing sport around the age of puberty. Between Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 there is 65% drop in the time spent playing sport, nationally, but for girls in girls’ schools this drop is far lower, at 25%.
• Girls report many barriers to playing, and enjoying, sport - including menstruation and sporting injuries such as ACL tears. Females are significantly more likely to experience an ACL tear and recovery lags behind that of males.