The findings from the newly-released Good Schools Guide show that single-sex non-government schools are outperforming their coeducational counterparts – but they come at a price.
The annual Guide, released last week by the Good Education Group (GEG), comprehensively details 578 schools across Victoria, including a breakdown of each school by sector, academic performance, tuition fees and curriculum.
It showed that 8% of co-ed students achieve 40+ study scores, rising to 14% in boys’ schools and 17% in girls’ schools.
However, parents can expect to pay more for a single-sex education at non-gov’t schools – which can cost up to $14K for boys and $16K for girls – versus $10,000 at co-ed schools.
GEG CEO, Chris Lester, told The Educator that the most significant finding from the survey was that single-sex schools appear to be outperforming their co-educational counterparts.
Lester pointed to the percentage increases over the last five years of VCE graduates who achieved a study score of 40 or above, shown below:
• 17% from girls’ schools
• 14 % of grads from boys’ schools
• 8% for co-ed students.
“While average results tend to be higher, parents can expect to pay more for a single-sex education. For non-government single-sex schools, average tuition fees were $14,000 for boys’ schools and $16,000 for girls’ schools,” Lester said.
“However, tuition fees at coeducational schools sat an average of $10,000 per year.”
Lester said GEG encourages parents to do their research before selecting a school, as some parents tend to connect price with quality.
“We believe that parents have to choose the school that is the right fit for their child. Young people vary in how they respond to various learning environments and it’s important to choose the school that fits their child’s interests and personality,” he said.
“This Guide isn’t developed to determine which are the ‘best’ schools in Victoria, it is a tool that we hope will increase people’s understanding of the Victorian education system and promote further discussion so that parents can make an informed decision.”
Lester said that while the GEG could not provide academic results for other states, it is in the process of evolving its website and working on collecting national academic results for the next integration of the site.
“What we have been able to collate, is information on the costs of schooling in each state,” Lester said.
“We have found that while the cost of schooling children in the Catholic sector remains fairly consistent from state to state, within the Independent sector, Victoria and NSW stood out as the most expensive states, and the NT the least expensive.”