A snapshot of single-sex schooling in New Zealand
Are there differences in the availability of single-sex schooling, and the distribution of male and female students across different school types? If so, what are the potential implications of this? To determine the answer to this question, I used roll data provided by Education Counts, which allows you to easily present data on the basis of a number of parameters and categories. I put some of this data into four tables below to get a snapshot of enrolment data for 2021, and some data on 2012 to determine if there were any trends over the last decade.
It’s important to note that the totals presented in the table don’t represent the exact totals, as some data points were excluded. For example, in Table 2, two schools that would be categorised as having a had Boys’ Junior school and co-ed Senior school were excluded, while for Table 3, one co-ed Junior Girls’ Secondary school was excluded. Additionally other data points have been excluded. However, the data here should give an overall picture of the state of single-sex schooling in New Zealand. Note that in this analysis, the term boy and male (and girl and female) are used interchangeably.
If we start by looking at the overall numbers of boys and girls across private, state-integrated and state schools (Table 1), we do find some differences of various size.
Table 1 – The number of male and female students at each school type for 2021.
| Number of students - 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Private | State-Integrated | State | Total |
| Male | 15537 (49.9%) | 45666 (48.8%) | 357699 (51.4%) | 418902 (51.1%) |
| Female | 15581 (50.1%) | 47833 (51.2%) | 337539 (48.6%) | 400953 (48.9%) |
| Total | 31118 | 93499 | 695238 | 819855 |
It is evident from this data in Table 1, that there are more girls at private schools (by only 44 students), but significantly larger at state-integrated schools, with 2167 more girls attending, based on this data. Overall 14.6% of boys attend private or state-integrated combined, while 15.8% of girls attend either, a difference of 1.2%. If we look at data on single-sex schools only, larger differences are apparent.
Table 2 – The number of private single-sex schools, students and student/school ratios for 2012 and 2021.
| 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Number of schools | Number of students | Students/School |
| Male | 11 (50%) | 4335 (40.8%) | 394.1 |
| Female | 11 (50%) | 6284 (59.2%) | 571.3 |
| Total | 22 | 10619 | 482 |
| 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Number of schools | Number of students | Students/School |
| Male | 8 (44.4%) | 3490 (34.8%) | 436.3 |
| Female | 10 (55.6%) | 6553 (65.2%) | 655.3 |
| Total | 18 | 10043 | 557.9 |
When looking at the data in Table 2 on private single-sex schools only, the first thing to notice is the fact that there has been a 27.3% decline in boys’ private schools since 2012, which resulted in only 44.4% of single-sex schools catering to boys.
Of the students attending single-sex private schools, in 2012 40.8% were boys, and only 34.8% boys by 2021. This suggests a significant bias of girls attending single sex schools, with these schools being, on average larger. Given there is little difference in the overall number of boys and girls attending private schools, this would imply a larger proportion (and number) of boys are attending co-ed private schools.
This trend appears to have gotten worse over the last decade, with 845 less boys attending single-sex private schools in 2021 compared to 2012. Conversely, there were 269 more girls attending single-sex private schools by 2021. This does also suggest little overall growth in girlsâ schools, with populations generally remaining stable.
The decline in boysâ attending single-sex private schools can be explained in large part by boys’ schools going co-ed. These include Huntley School (from 2014), Scots College (from 2020) and Waihi School (from 2021). Hereworth School also plans to go co-ed school in 2023. This suggests over a third of all boys’ schools have gone, or intended to go co-ed in a decade, with three of these within the last 3-4 years alone. If this rate of boysâ schools going co-ed continued, there would be no more boysâ single-sex schools by 2030, which itself is a concerning trend.
Given that this change to co-ed schools appears to be predominantly happening in private schools and isnât reflected in state-integrated (Table 3), which actually grew over the same period, confirms that these changes are in large part motivated by a desire to grow their rolls and remain financial viable. Along these same lines, these schools may be moving to rely less financially on enrolment on itself, such as the case with Hereworth School, which wants to become state-integrated at the same time as going co-ed. Conversely, girls’ private schools appear to prioritise their single-sex nature over financial and roll concerns, and are more likely to continue serving the needs of girls, even in the face of declining enrolments.
How much of these changes are a reflection of less parents deciding to send their sons to single-sex private schools (and private schools responding to this change), or how much is a result of less opportunities for parents to do so in the first place, cannot be determined from this data set. It does suggest that in order to retain single-sex schooling, these financial issues need to be addressed.
Table 3 – The number of state-integrated single-sex schools, students and student/school ratios for 2012 and 2021.
| 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Number of schools | Number of students | Students/School |
| Male | 20 (40.8%) | 13093 (48.3%) | 654.7 |
| Female | 29 (59.2%) | 13988 (51.7%) | 482.3 |
| Total | 49 | 27081 | 552.7 |
| 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Number of schools | Number of students | Students/School |
| Male | 20 (41.7%) | 13541 (48.6%) | 677.1 |
| Female | 28 (58.3%) | 14332 (51.4%) | 511.9 |
| Total | 48 | 27873 | 580.7 |
The trends for single-sex state-integrated schools in Table 3, differ considerably from those of private schools. The number of schools of boys and girls remained remarkably stable, with Turakina MÄori Girls’ College being the only one closing down over this period, and none of them going co-ed over the same period.
Despite there being significantly less boysâ state integrated schools available, boysâ schools grew slightly more, with a growth of 448 more boys, while only 344 more girls attending state-integrated single-sex schools over this period. As a result of less boysâ state-integrated schools existing, these schools happen to be comparatively larger. The stability of boysâ state-integrated schools over this period offers a counter point to the idea that parents are finding schools that cater to boys less desirable.
Table 4 – The number of state single-sex schools, students and student/school ratios for 2012 and 2021.
| 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Number of schools | Number of students | Students/School |
| Male | 24 (48%) | 27631 (50.9%) | 1151.3 |
| Female | 26 (52%) | 26661 (49.1%) | 1025.4 |
| Total | 50 | 54292 | 1085.8 |
| 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Number of schools | Number of students | Students/School |
| Male | 24 (48%) | 28586 (51.8%) | 1191.1 |
| Female | 26 (52%) | 26575 (48.2%) | 1022.1 |
| Total | 50 | 55161 | 1103.2 |
There are similar numbers of boysâ and girlsâ state schools available, with no schools going co-ed over this period. This isnât a surprise, given that these schools cannot simply go co-ed like private and state-integrated schools can. Despite there being slightly less boysâ schools (48%) in 2021, there were 2,011 more boys attending these schools. Growth was also higher for boysâ state schools, with 955 more boys attending these schools in 2021 compared to 2012, whereas 86 less girls attended them.
Table 4 appears to suggest that there is still a strong demand for boysâ schools, or at least state boyâs schools. Given this increase in demand, the government should be investing in more public boysâ schools, an observation also made by David Farrar at Kiwiblog.
Boysâ state schools make up a significant chunk (63.4%) of the total pool of boysâ schools available. This suggests the government should have a bigger role in ensuring parental choice and more school environments that have a specific focus on boysâ educational needs, particularly in light of the economics driving the decline in private boys’ schools.
Source of data: Education Counts – School Rolls, Archived.
