MOVE TO CO-EDUCATION A BRIGHT FUTURE, TOGETHER
The move to co-education is a strategic decision which is part of our vision for the future. It will enhance the educational opportunities we offer our students, provide a structure that is more financially efficient and fit for the future and create a more inclusive community to reflect the modern world.
MOVE TO CO-EDUCATION
“Individuality continues to be championed – there are no identikit students here, just high-achievers in charge of their own future. As the school gears up to celebrate its 300th anniversary, there’s exciting change afoot. From September 2026, Sir William Perkins’s will start welcoming boys in Years 7 and 12, with a view to becoming fully co-educational by 2030.”
The move to co-education is a strategic decision which is part of our vision for the future. It will enhance the educational opportunities we offer our students, provide a structure that is more financially efficient and fit for the future and create a more inclusive community to reflect the modern world.
This next chapter in our journey is a natural evolution that will enable us to achieve our new vision. We are proud of our past, our culture and our traditions. In making this change we are empowering every student to explore their interests, supporting every student to follow their curiosity, pursue their ambitions and realise their potential, ready to make their mark on the
world.
Preparation is well underway for the school’s inaugural co-educational year groups into Year 7 and 12 in 2026, to ensure that both our new students and those already at the school enjoy a positive experience. From facilities to teaching and beyond, we are in the best possible place to be welcoming boys and girls into the school.
Debbie Picton Head
In partnership with King’s College London, we are creating a doctoral studentship to recruit a researcher to capture our co-education transition learning.
In the coming academic year, we are developing appropriate professional learning that ensures all staff are prepared well for the beginnings of our co-education intake. This includes making use of our school-wide membership of the Chartered College of Teaching.
We continue to engage with our student community through the Student Council, such as discussing future school uniform needs.
We continue to reflect on all aspects of school life through a co-educational lens to ensure we offer the best experience for all children and young people when we welcome boys in 2026. Our co-education working party comprises representation from all disciplines and is collaborating with other schools to share practice and experiences in teaching in coeducational schools.
A dedicated co-education governor works closely with the Senior Leadership Team as we prepare for the first co-educational year groups.
The Senior Leadership Team has commissioned considerable research into co-education transition, investigating key curriculum and cocurriculum issues to consider as we make our material change application to the Department for Education.
Staff enjoy the experience of teaching mixed cohorts of children through our programme of feeder school partnership days with local prep and primary schools. We have welcomed boys and girls to enjoy our expert teaching in the areas of football and hockey as well as our academic programme of senior school taster sessions.
We have evaluated our facilities and are in the final stages of plans to make the adjustments to ensure we have the right provision for boys with regards to changing and toilet facilities.
2024–2025 Planning and Preparation
• Staff training on inclusivity, safeguarding, and co-education.
• A Co-Education Working Group formed.
• Visits to other co-ed schools for learning and benchmarking.
• Policy reviews and updates.
• Parent and student engagement activities start.
2025–2026 Final Readiness
• Continued staff training and curriculum adjustments.
• Facilities adapted (e.g., toilets, changing rooms).
• Risk assessments and safeguarding protocols updated.
September 2026 Boys Join
• Boys admitted into Year 7 and Year 12.
• New behaviour and pastoral systems in place.
• Ongoing monitoring and feedback collection.
“Big enough to thrive, small enough to care, SWPS is a place where learning and enjoyment go hand-in-hand. Every parent we spoke to praised the ‘encouraging yet non-pressured’ learning environment and ‘hands-down the best teachers’ who ‘really care’ and ‘get the best out of everyone’”
– Good Schools Guide Review 2025
Key priorities
Safeguarding: Gender-appropriate supervision, updated policies on bullying, harassment, and student relationships.
Wellbeing: Mentoring for students. Preparing pastoral leaders by providing them with appropriate training.
Behaviour and Culture: Promoting respect, kindness, and inclusion through assemblies, PSHE, and tutor time.
Inclusivity: Ensuring boys and girls feel equally valued and supported, especially in early years of transition.
How do you plan to sustain your reputation for excellent pastoral care in a co-educational environment?
As we welcome boys to our school, we will maintain a culture where everyone feels they belong. We will support new parents and students alike to ensure everyone settles in well to life at SWPS. Parents will enjoy support through regular contact with key members of staff and attend our welcome receptions in September so that they can make connections with the school and one another. Nominated contacts will be provided, and parents will be invited to tutor/parent evenings in the first few weeks, providing plenty of opportunity to discuss pastoral matters. New students will enjoy a bonding ‘team building’ trip in the first few weeks of the Autumn term, and the cocurricular fair will encourage full participation in the clubs and activities on offer so that boys and girls alike can engage in all that the school has to offer and begin to make strong connections with their peers. All students will also engage in our mentoring programme to ensure they settle well into life at SWPS.
How will ensure that both boys and girls enjoy a sense of belonging in the early years as a co-educational school?
We will develop our well-established wellbeing provision to ensure boys and girls are supported by our expert team. We will continue with our buddy system which allows older students to provide support to younger children, providing leadership opportunities for our Sixth Form students. We continue to reflect on our House system to ensure new students - be they boys or girls - feel welcomed and included into the fabric of the school. Whilst our House names are inspired by strong female role models, voted in some ten years ago by students, we are keen to involve the first co-educational cohort in choosing how the House names might evolve to more accurately reflect the new era.
Our trips and visits and co-curricular provision is being closely examined to ensure that we extend our exciting and varied provision to include a programme of enrichment activities which will appeal to boys as well as girls.
Our already welcoming and inclusive community will remain unchanged: with our culture of care front and centre of what we do, we are committed to continuing to be the welcoming and inclusive school that we currently are. An environment that champions every person and welcomes diversity.
purposeful atmosphere. Whilst we anticipate growth in student numbers, we are not looking to increase the number of pupils on roll to an unrecognisable level because much of our strength lies in the size of our cohort.
How many boys are you expecting to welcome to the school in the first co-ed intake in September 2026?
With a phased approach to the move to being fully co-educational - which won’t be complete until 2030 – we are not anticipating a full 50/50 split between boys and girls in Year 7 in 2026.
Will you prioritise applications from boys over girls and is there a quota for applications from each gender?
A
leading independent co-educational day school: a community where every individual thrives.
Our vision expresses our combined sense of purpose, aspiring to be an environment which promotes the success of every individual whilst recognising that individuals must work together to create a strong, purposeful community and a sense of belonging.
“A wonderful example of the benefits of a focus on the individual, Sir William Perkins’s School consistently turns out capable, confident young adults.”
Talk Education
Registrations are open and at the moment the ratio of boys to girls who have registered is approximately one-third to two-thirds. It will inevitably take time for us to build our coeducational reputation given our long-standing girls only provision. We are wedded to our ethos and educational approach and do not wish this to change, or be changed, by our move to coeducation. To that end, as a selective school, we will be looking to select a cohort of children who will thrive at SWPS and embrace our happy and
By 2030, we will see all year groups comprising both boys and girls and beyond this, our ambition is to work towards an equal split of boys and girls in each cohort. However, in the initial stages of our co-educational intake, we are alive to the fact that it is unlikely we will see equal demand for places from both girls and boys. Our overriding mission is to ensure every cohort is cohesive in order to continue delivering a learning environment where every individual thrives. To that end, we will not have ‘quotas’ for boy and girl places; being an academically selective school, every child is assessed on their performance in the admissions process and the decision as to whether to award a place will be based on the outcome of this, regardless of gender.
We provide an education that enables success for everyone – personalised and ambitious, with excellence the norm; our students are ready for the world and ready to make the world better for everyone. We continue to place personalised academic success and equipping students for the world beyond SWPS and at the heart of everything we do, allowing every individual – regardless of gender – to achieve the very best outcomes.
A leading independent co-educational day school: a community where every individual thrives.
Our vision expresses our combined sense of purpose, aspiring to be an environment which promotes the success of every individual whilst recognising that individuals must work together to create a strong, purposeful community and a sense of belonging.
Key priorities
“A wonderful example of the benefits of a focus on the individual, Sir William Perkins’s
School consistently turns out capable, confident young adults.”
Inclusive Teaching: Staff training on unconscious bias and equitable classroom practices.
Representation: Diverse role models and materials in lessons.
Subject Choices: Encouraging balanced gender participation in STEM, humanities, and sports.
Futures Programme: Ensuring our Careers programme delivers a high-quality experience for all students.
How do you plan to adjust your teaching and learning practices to consider the needs of boys as well as girls?
As we look to September 2026, key changes in our curriculum will be reflected ensuring gender equity and access. All departments are reviewing their subject-specific curriculum considering the interests and ambitions of new our cohorts. Super curriculum will embed interaction with boys at other schools in conferences, competitions and partnerships to ensure all students experience a truly coeducational education.
In advance of welcoming our first co-education cohorts, we have reviewed our curriculum to ensure that boys and girls feel equally represented in their subjects; for example, we have reviewed the texts in subjects such as English to ensure a range of authors are part of the teaching and learning programme. We continue to build partnerships with other
coeducational schools to ensure our girls are prepared well to learn and collaborate with boys; for instance, our recent 300th anniversary concert involved performances by students from Salesians School in Chertsey.
The school’s RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) and PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) curriculums have been refreshed in readiness for our co-education cohort we have recently appointed a new head of PSHE to further enhance this provision for September 2025. PSHE and RSE sessions will be adapted to meet the needs of both male and female students and to ensure that all relationships are represented sensitively. Our staff will continue to establish clear framework to encourage respectful behaviour during discussions, particularly when covering sensitive or controversial topics. Additionally, in the Sixth Form we will ensure Life Skills external speakers represent subjects relevant to all students, regardless of gender.
How do you plan to organise the teaching groups to ensure all students enjoy access to a co-educational experience in the early years of the transition from a single-sex environment?
Ideally, we will have boys and girls across all four form groups, however in the situation where there is a small number of boys, we will ensure they are grouped across two or three form groups so that they feel settled and happy. For the benefit of all children who have opted to join a co-educational school, we will be making sure that girls and boys mix outside of their teaching groups to ensure that they enjoy the co-educational experience. For example, in sports lessons, assemblies, House activities, cocurricular activities and so on.
Are you looking to extend your scholarship provision in any way?
We are delighted that we will be extending our scholarship provision for children wishing to join the school in Year 7 from September 2026 onwards. In addition to Academic, Art, Drama, Music and Sport we will be offering children with a talent in STEM subjects the opportunity to demonstrate their passion. Children who are able to show achievement and potential in one or more of the STEM subjects (Science (including Computer Science), Design Technology, Engineering and Maths) may be eligible for this new award. Students who qualify will enjoy and enhanced programme of learning and development alongside a modest reduction in tuition fees. More information regarding the application and assessment process is available on the website.
We provide an environment where all students enjoy an enriching school life beyond the classroom.
Key priorities
Trips and Visits: Gender-sensitive planning for supervision and accommodation on residential trips.
Behaviour Expectations: Clear codes of conduct for mixed-gender settings on all trips and visits.
Parental Communication: Transparent updates on trip logistics and safety.
How will you ensure that all students benefit from what is on offer in school beyond the classroom?
To make sure we continue to provide all students with the opportunity to enjoy an enriching school life beyond the classroom we are ensuring that our programme of enrichment - including trips and visits – is ready to welcome a co-educational cohort with a range of exciting opportunities accessible to both boys and girls.
A
leading independent co-educational day school: a community where every individual thrives.
Our vision expresses our combined sense of purpose, aspiring to be an environment which promotes the success of every individual whilst recognising that individuals must work together to create a strong, purposeful community and a sense of belonging.
passion for the first time, every individual is encouraged to explore the range of sports on offer. Equity and access for all is central to our sports strategy ensuring boys and girls can enjoy a wide range of sports to give all students to the opportunity develop their talents. Currently, students enjoy competitive fixtures in the main sports of netball and hockey during the winter and cricket in the summer extending to football and hockey for boys in the winter and cricket in the summer. All students will also enjoy a range of sports across the year including athletics, gymnastics, cross country, dance, badminton, volleyball and tennis which are part of our sports programme and co-curricular offering.
“A wonderful example of the benefits of a focus on the individual, Sir William Perkins’s School consistently turns out capable, confident young adults.”
Talk Education
Ensuring our sporting provision meets the needs of all students is top of the agenda. With cricket and football rapidly becoming embedded in our offering, we welcome dedicated expert coaches to the school such as a seasoned professional in youth and senior footballs. Sport is more than just physical activity - it’s a powerful driver of personal growth, wellbeing, and leadership. From students representing the school in team competitions to those discovering a new
All students need access to high-quality facilities to facilitate the individualised approach to teaching and learning and experience the range of sports on offer, allowing them to explore their full potential.
Key priorities
Toilets and Changing Rooms: Separate and universal options being added or upgraded.
Supervision: Increased staff presence in shared spaces.
Emergency Planning: Updated evacuation and safety procedures.
Outdoor and Shared Spaces: Reassessing use of playgrounds, sports areas, and lockers to accommodate more students.
How do you plan to organise the changing facilities and sports offering to accommodate boys as well as girls?
We are working through the requirements for the application to the DfE for a material change which requires a significant level of planning, including that relating to the provision of toilet and changing facilities for boys.
In the simplest terms, for the incoming year groups, this will not require a significant level of investment - simply a reallocation of facilities.
What exactly needs altering / adapting on site to accommodate our co-educational year groups in 2026?
A leading independent co-educational day school: a community where every individual thrives.
Our vision expresses our combined sense of purpose, aspiring to be an environment which promotes the success of every individual whilst recognising that individuals must work together to create a strong, purposeful community and a sense of belonging.
Talk Education
Moving forward we have plans for some additional changing facilities as our numbers of boys grow, which will require a modest investment. The focus of any investment in our sporting provision over the next two years is on providing enhanced facilities which will benefit all students. We have freehold land which is under consideration for developing our sports facilities.
Given the school’s plan is not to extend the number of students beyond that currently recognised by the DfE, the changes required to the site to be compliant require a minimal level of investment and disruption. The work planned centres around the reallocation of toilet facilities around the campus, as well as building some new changing facilities. The new changing facilities will be created by adapting some existing storage areas which ensures the capital investment is reasonable.
“A wonderful example of the benefits of a focus on the individual, Sir William Perkins’s School consistently turns out capable, confident young adults.”
The planned works will take place in school holidays in 2026 to ensure the site is ready for the co-education intake in September 2026 and avoids any disruption to school life for students.