I read Hazel Shearing’s BBC report on this year’s GCSE and A-level results with great interest. As she highlighted, girls remain more likely to pass their GCSEs than boys – 70.5% of girls’ grades were at 4/C or above compared to 64.3% of boys. Yet what is new this year is the narrowing of the gender gap: girls’ pass rates fell while boys’ rose, leaving the narrowest gap ever recorded. At A-level, boys are also leading in top grades, overturning the 0.4% advantage girls held last year.

It is striking too that boys make up 63% of entries for the UK’s most popular A-level, Mathematics, with proportionally fewer girls now taking the subject than in 2019. This matters. Maths opens doors to some of the most competitive and lucrative careers, yet fewer girls are even stepping up to the threshold.

Some argue that fluctuations are natural and we should avoid overreaction. But, as Natalie Perera of the Education Policy Institute think tank rightly warns, “we do need to start looking at what’s driving the decline in girls’ attainment before it gets too late.”

The statistics on attendance should also concern us. Last year, 21.9% of girls were persistently absent from school in England compared with 20.3% of boys. Add to this the disproportionate impact of social media on girls’ wellbeing – as noted by UCL’s Dr Jennie Golding, who calls for greater emphasis on belonging and emotional security – and the risks for girls are clear.

This decline must also be seen against the backdrop of dozens of independent girls’ school closures and mergers, accelerated by the Labour government’s VAT policy. These are schools with a proud legacy of championing gender equality and providing environments in which girls thrive.

The evidence for their impact is compelling. Research by the Girls Schools’ Association shows that pupils in girls-only sixth forms are significantly more likely to study mathematics and sciences at A-level than their peers in co-educational settings – 83% more likely to take Chemistry and nearly three times more likely to pursue Further Mathematics. The effect continues into higher education: girls from single-sex schools are four times more likely to apply for mathematics degrees and 40% more likely to apply for engineering degrees.

Why does this matter? Because STEM skills are critical to the UK economy. A lack of female participation in STEM (currently making up only 8% of the overall STEM workforce) not only limits opportunities for young women but also starves the country of half its potential innovators, engineers, scientists, and problem-solvers. McKinsey estimates that advancing gender equality could add £150 billion to the UK economy by 2030. We simply cannot afford for girls to step back just as the economy needs them most.

Crucially, single-sex education is not just about academic achievement. New research indicates that girls in girls’ schools report higher confidence and greater emotional resilience than those in co-educational schools. As Donna Stevens, Chief Executive of the Girls’ Schools Association, observes:

“This is a fascinating insight into the environmental impact of a single-sex school on girls’ confidence and emotional resilience and may well explain why girls in girls’ schools typically tend to do better academically and are more likely to choose STEM subjects.”

Against a backdrop of social media toxicity, unrealistic beauty standards and a shifting educational picture, young women face mounting challenges. Schools of all types must act – with clear strategies to nurture resilience, confidence, and ambition. But girls’ schools, with their explicit focus on girls’ wellbeing and their rejection of the notion that any subject is “for boys,” are uniquely placed to respond.

We cannot afford to let these institutions disappear. As Hillary Clinton once said:

“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world.”

We must not allow that reservoir to become an ocean.

As I begin my role as President Elect of the Girls School Association, I’m committed to understanding what more schools should – both co-ed and single-sex – be doing to ensure girls don’t lose vital ground.