# Single-sex or co-ed

**Should we choose a single-sex or a co-ed school?**

Whether your child attends a school with both boys and girls or a single-sex school.

In short: Parents choose between 3 main approaches: Co-ed throughout; Single-sex for some years; Single-sex throughout. Evidence: evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. Best settled: school age.

- Area: School and academics
- Evidence: Evidence leans one way
- Best settled: School age
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/school-and-academics--single-sex-or-co-ed

## Single-sex or co-ed: what are the options?

1. **Co-ed throughout**: The child attends mixed schools all the way through.
2. **Single-sex for some years**: The child attends a single-sex school for part of their schooling.
3. **Single-sex throughout**: The child attends single-sex schools all the way through.

## Single-sex or co-ed: what does the evidence say?

**Evidence leans one way.** Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. (Leans to no difference)

No meaningful advantage across 184 studies

Sources:

- [Pahlke, Hyde & Allison](https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-effects-of-single-sex-compared-with-schooling-a-Pahlke-Hyde/cde6e26de532355b4f4c6d7d3bc695c5d8d2af15)

## What else is worth knowing?

Some schools teach only girls or only boys. Research has not shown a clear academic advantage either way. The choice usually reflects family tradition or what is available.

## Questions to ask each other

- What do we think about girls and boys learning together?
- What drew us to this view?
- Would we change it at different ages?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=school-and-academics&topic=school-and-academics--single-sex-or-co-ed