The Impact of School Size and Single-Sex Education on Performance
01 July 2002
NFER was commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) to explore two issues of enduring interest: the impact on performance of school size and single-sex education. There are arguments in favour of small schools and large schools. And although most comprehensive schools are coeducational, it is sometimes claimed that single-sex education is beneficial, particularly for girls.
In order to explore these issues, it was felt necessary to undertake a value-added analysis which took prior attainment and other key factors into account. The research comprised two strands: a review of published literature and some primary analysis.