Should You Attend An All-Girls School?

Surobi Mohammed — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 22:00:22 +0000

Just a few months ago, I graduated from secondary school, and it was a wonderful experience. However, some may not know that I actually attended not one but two secondary schools.

My first school was a coeducational secondary school (for both boys and girls), which I attended from the start of Year 7 to the middle of Year 8. My second secondary school was a single-sex all-girls comprehensive secondary school, which I started at the middle of Year 8 to the end of Year 11. I had to move schools simply because my first school was too far away from my new house.

Now, which one did I prefer? Do I recommend all-girls schools? Here’s the tea:

Disclaimer: Now, of course all of these experiences, similarities and differences are completely personal to me and they are my opinions. Please don’t solely rely on this article to decide which school you want to attend or to generalize pupils in each school. I’m just sharing my experiences and perspective here, and I’m trying to be as honest as possible.

My Experience At Mixed Secondary School:

My experience at my first school was okay. The teachers were quite good, the school building was really modern and there were quite a large number of pupils. This school was in a more deprived area so teenagers starting secondary school were quite immature, and there was drama going on, like every other school. I did not have the best experience in this school, but I do cherish the good memories and how I grew as a person.

My Experience At An All-Girls Secondary School:

The 3 and a half years at this school really taught me a lot. Girls can be quite dramatic so being in an all-girls school does teach you to stand up for yourself when needed. Overall, I have made some good friends who I still talk to today from this school. The teachers were mostly outstanding, but even though the school was in a slightly better area, there were financial issues in the school. Regardless, I think these years also made me grow as a person.

Similarities Between A Mixed School And An All-Girls School:

In both schools, girls know what boys are. In secondary school, every teenager is going through puberty, and every teenager does know their opposite sex. So, whichever school you go to, you will see girls talk about boys and some girls even get into drama.
In both schools, there is a pattern of girls hanging around the toilets. We all know that some girls spend ages in the toilets having a chat with their friends and touching up on their lipstick, and this probably happens even more in an all-girls school.
In both schools, there are still fights. Beef, as some may call it, is quite inevitable in secondary school and it definitely does happen in both schools.
In both schools, there is still this ‘class system’ whereby there are the ‘mean popular girls’, the ‘sidekicks’, the ‘gossip girls’ and even the ‘nerds’. This is even more distinguished in all-girls schools as girls love their little cliques of friends.

Differences Between Both Schools:

Mixed Schools	All-Girls Schools
They usually have fewer fights. Now, this may be slightly biased as I only did attend the school for 1 and half years but I didn’t witness that many fights in this school.	They have so many more fights. In my school, some girls could get very toxic and competitive so they would fight but obviously, it would not be an everyday thing so don’t get scared.
There is more drama related to boys. Now, this comes down to who you stay with and what type of person you are but because you have male peers, it is usually much easier for girls to talk about their male classmates.	There is drama related to boys but it is quite confined to social media or outside of school. So, again, as long as you stay with the right people, and you don’t get involved in boy drama on social media, it is much easier to avoid.
There is a smaller proportion of LGBT people. From what I saw, there were not many people from LGBT and this may or may not have been due to the school.	There was a larger proportion of LGBT people. My school would also raise awareness about it too. HOWEVER, this does not mean that all girls become lesbian or bisexual after attending all-girls schools. I, for example, am straight.
The changing rooms and toilets are separated. Of course, because there are toilets for boys and there are toilets for girls.	It doesn’t matter what changing room or toilets you go into, they are all for girls (wait, don’t go into the teachers’ ones).
In my mixed school, there were more GCSE options ranging from Media to Photography to Food. I think it may also be because of a slightly higher budget as there were more students.	In my all-girls school, there were less GCSE options but the main ones were there for example, Spanish and French, Triple Science and Art. This may have been good as you have less options, making it easier for you to choose.
In terms of GCSE results, my mixed school did get okay GCSE results every year. I think again, it may be because of the multiple distractions that both boys and girls might have.	In terms of GCSE results, my all-girls school had significantly better results. There was a certain group and perhaps even larger group of girls who were more focused on their work and desires to get good grades. This may be something you want to look into.
When I was in my mixed school, I did have a group of friends but I did not feel that sense of community, it felt like a full-time job.	If you make the right group of friends who are supportive and kind, you will feel this sense of community which I felt with my friends in my all-girls school.

So overall, would I recommend an all-girls secondary school? My answer is YES. For me, I think it was a good choice and I know that some people may have many stereotypes about all-girls schools but I genuinely think it was good for me to learn how to stand up for myself, have good memories, get decent grades and also build a community of female friends who would support me. However, I also do believe that it is important to know how to communicate with both males and females, which is why I think you should attend an all-girls secondary school, but maybe for sixth form, go to a mixed one just so you know how it feels in both situations. In sixth form, both boys and girls are also more mature so it is less likely you will get distracted.

I did learn a lot and had good memories and learning experiences from all schools.

Thank you so much for reading my article, and have a lovely day!

all girls – Surobi Scribbles

Should You Attend An All-Girls School?