Released today, research from the Girls’ Schools Association: The Academic Attainment and Representation of Girls in STEM, once more highlights the strength of girls’ schools in inspiring young women to pursue STEM subjects and achieve strong academic outcomes.
Analysing the latest datasets from the Department for Education, the report demonstrates the vital role girls’ schools play in levelling opportunity for girls in mathematics and science at A level. The analysis also shows that girls in girls’ schools continue to outperform their peers academically across both Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.
The report provides new insights into subject uptake in the 2024–25 academic year, revealing that girls in girls’ schools remain significantly more likely to study STEM subjects than girls in co-educational settings.
Key findings
STEM subject participation at A level
Girls in single-sex sixth forms are significantly more likely to study mathematics and science at A level than their counterparts in co-educational schools.
- They are 2.9 times more likely to take Further Mathematics.
- They are 2.2 times more likely to take Physics.
- They are 2.1 times more likely to take Computer Science.
- 86% higher uptake in Mathematics
- 38% higher uptake in Biology
- 78% higher uptake in Chemistry
Uptake of Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science has increased for girls in both school types since 2023–24, with particularly strong growth in Computer Science entries among girls in girls’ schools, where uptake has increased by 16.42% in a single year.
Academic performance
Girls in single-sex schools outperform their co-educated peers at both GCSE and A-level.
At Key Stage 4, girls in girls’ schools record higher Attainment 8 scores overall, with stronger results in both Mathematics and English. At Key Stage 5, students in single-sex schools achieve higher average A-level point scores than those in co-educational settings.
Comment
Jeanette Cochrane, Chief Executive of the Girls’ Schools Association, said:
“The gender gap in STEM doesn’t exist in girls’ schools – it’s been closed. While the rest of the education is still working out how to get girls into Physics and Computer Science, girls’ schools are already achieving this. The data are clear: in our schools girls are almost three times more likely to take Further Maths, more than twice as likely to take Physics, and we have seen a 16% year-on-year surge in Computer Science entries. These aren’t marginal differences, they represent a fundamentally different relationship between girls and STEM, built over decades of knowing exactly what a curriculum designed for girls can achieve. Girls’ schools create environments where curiosity, ambitions and leadership aren’t the exception – they’re the expectation. This report is further proof that when you design education around girls – they excel.”