Trinity

Vision and Timing

Pastoral Care

How are you preparing the students currently at Trinity for the arrival of girls in 2027?

We agree that the preparation of the wider school body is a key part of making this transition successfully. We are engaging students in discussions about how to get ready for the move to co-ed through School Council meetings to ensure that they feel part of the change and can contribute to it positively. Our current Junior Year have been discussing the importance of play and our different play spaces around the school, and have influenced the purchase of new play equipment for the Lower School which will be in use from September 2026.

Older boy-only year groups will also be discussing this in their PSHE lessons; we will be exploring with them how we make the younger students feel welcome and fully integrated into the school. The lovely part of this is that they are really keen to get this right.

We re-introduced our House System in autumn 2025, bringing back a tradition that dates from 1908, but which was consigned to history in 1995. We hope this will provide an additional layer of belonging within the school, creating communities within our community, a place for additional student leadership roles, opportunities for cross-year collaboration and somewhere for all students to shine.

The vast majority of students who join us do so from co-educational primary schools and prep schools and have therefore been educated alongside girls recently. This, coupled with the 50:50 ratio of male/female teaching staff, the strength of female leadership already in place, and the older girls in our Sixth Form year groups, means Trinity student are very used to a strong female presence around the school already. There is a lot of experience of nurturing younger girls here, added to by our nursing and counselling team. As we plan new buildings and adapt the use of existing spaces, we will have age-related dedicated spaces, such as common rooms for Junior, First and Second Year students.

We have reviewed the current timetable to ensure that younger students have the best possible experience of using shared facilities like the dining room and fields, as we expand the school. There will be a slightly earlier registration time from 8.25am for all, and Year 8 students and above will no longer have to register in their form rooms in the afternoon – giving all students plenty of time to enjoy co-curricular opportunities and their own space and free time.

How is the school going to be ready for both girls and boys to thrive from the age of 10 or 11?

We are confident in our ability to provide a welcoming and nurturing environment for all our students, such that everyone feels they are known and belong in our community. We believe the greatest impact on student experience comes from the relationships they have with staff and with each other; we have a strongly empathetic, knowledgeable and motivated staff body who are excited by making this change, and boys and girls in the school who will be excellent role models.

In preparation for this change we are reviewing every element of our provision, using expertise and experience both internally and from outside the school to ensure we can provide the best education for both girls and boys. A significant majority of our staff have worked in co-ed or girls schools, some of them in key pastoral or academic roles.

School Culture and co-curricular

Is the school going to grow, and why?

We intend to increase overall student numbers from 1050 currently to 1400 by 2033. This means the growth will be gradual, allowing us to manage carefully how the school evolves its pastoral and other provision.

A particular strength of Trinity is the breadth and depth of our co-curricular activity. Scaling up to around 100 girls and 100 boys in every year group will create greater opportunities for students to find others who share their interests, whether that’s in the creative arts, sport, outdoor activities or academic societies, and it will support our students in excelling to the highest level.

Growing the school will also enable greater investment in our facilities and better opportunities for all students, particularly in the performing arts and sports.

Will class and year group sizes increase?

While year group sizes will increase, class sizes will remain the same. A typical year group currently is 135 students up to GCSE and 165 students at A Level. With the exception of Year 6, which will remain at 48 students, year groups will grow to no more than 200 students in every year. Class sizes up to GCSE will vary by subject, as they do now, from some very small classes to a maximum of 24. At A Level the average class size is around 11 students and will remain so.

What will be the ratio of boys to girls?

We aim to achieve equal numbers of boys and girls in each year group as soon as we can. In the first year (from September 2027), we plan to have 24 girls and 24 boys join Year 6 and expect to have between 70 and 100 girls and 100 boys in Year 7.

Does this mean you’re reducing the number of boys?

Yes, but not significantly and this is one reason why the school will grow. Typically, there are currently around 135 boys in each year group up to GCSE, and about 110 boys in each Sixth Form year group. We expect there to be up to 100 boys and 100 girls in every year group once co-education is fully established.

What opportunities will younger girls have in sport when they start in 2027?

We think it is essential that the strong culture we have in our boys’ sport – high quality coaching, all students engaged, lots of competitive fixtures for different abilities, excellence at a national level, first-rate facilities – is established quickly for girls.  As part of achieving this, we will be appointing an Assistant Director of Sport to lead the girls’ provision well over a year ahead of the girls arriving. This person will take responsibility for ensuring our younger girls’ have opportunities to participate in competitive sport when they join us, and we are fortunate that there are a good number of co-ed schools in the South London area with whom we have positive sporting links already. We expect to offer girls’ fixtures in hockey, netball, football, swimming, water polo and cricket.  We also have wider opportunities for students to participate in sport, including all racquet sports, basketball, sailing, golf and climbing. Strength and conditioning will be a key part of our provision for girls, as it is for boys already, and our sports scholars programme will include younger girls straight away too.

Academic and classroom

Single sex vs co-ed

Financial and practical considerations

What are the main changes you will make in preparation for Trinity to become fully co-educational and to grow?

As the school grows, we will work hard to ensure that we don’t lose the essential feel of the community that students currently enjoy; this is why gradual growth is important. Managing the experience of our students through the planning of our pastoral care and curriculum, improving social spaces, and expanding the physical site will all serve to ensure that we maintain the current atmosphere in the school.

We are fortunate to be well-resourced already, but the transition to full co-education will accelerate investment in our facilities over the next three years. There are obvious changes to make, such as changing rooms and toilets, but our creative and performing arts facilities will also be expanded to match the standards of our Music School. Sports facilities will see the construction of a new netball facility and significant improvements in our main pitches, including the renewal of one of our hockey astros to an elite standard. We will expand our sports centre, creating a new strength and conditioning facility as well as two dance and sport studios. Our investment will ensure that the sports facilities provide first class opportunities for both boys and girls.

We will also be investing in a new dining facility, new classrooms, and, in time, a new, enlarged Sixth Form centre, which will allow us to create pastoral/social areas for other sections of the school as well. We are planning a significant development of our Performing Arts spaces and, through sensitive landscaping, will create an ideal environment for current and future students to meet, socialise and play. We are in the early planning stages for these developments and look forward to sharing more when they are ready.

Will there be a significant increase in school fees to cover the cost of this work?

No. We are fortunate to have the support of the Foundation to enable this work, and we will benefit from the economies of scale that a larger school offers. Fees have been significantly affected by external factors recently, including inflation and government policy. We are planning this investment such that fee increases will be inflation-led only. Our fee level is such that parents should expect first-class opportunities, and we will have a site that can provide this.

Will you consider introducing a sibling discount with your move to fully co-ed?

We do not have a sibling discount but have always sought to be supportive of families applying to us with multiple children. We need to be confident that any student who makes an application to us is secure, academically and after which, we will always try and be supportive to families who want their children to be part of the same school community. 

Trinity Co-education

"This is a really exciting new chapter for our school and the wider community"

We are excited to announce that we will be extending co-education from our Sixth Form only to students of all ages. We will welcome our first co-educational intake in Year 6 and Year 7 in September 2027 and will be fully co-educational in 2031.

Councillors resolve to grant planning application - May 2026

One year after we announced our plans to transition to full co-education, we were delighted to receive endorsement for our planning application from Croydon Council’s Planning Committee, subject to the completion of a legal agreement.

Dining extension - underway

Frequently asked questions

Vision and Timing

When will full co-education begin?

Why are you becoming full co-educational, and why now?

Pastoral Care

How is the school going to be ready for both girls and boys to thrive from the age of 10 or 11?

School Culture and co-curricular

Is the school going to grow, and why?

Will class and year group sizes increase?

What will be the ratio of boys to girls?

Does this mean you’re reducing the number of boys?

What opportunities will younger girls have in sport when they start in 2027?

Academic and classroom

Will the school become more selective and academic?

How will teachers be prepared to provide excellent learning opportunities for both younger girls and boys?

Single sex vs co-ed

Is it true that girls achieve better results in single-sex environments?

What has the school learned from having a co-educational Sixth Form?

Financial and practical considerations

What are the main changes you will make in preparation for Trinity to become fully co-educational and to grow?

Will there be a significant increase in school fees to cover the cost of this work?

Will you consider introducing a sibling discount with your move to fully co-ed?

Further Information

Who can I speak to if I have questions about school becoming fully co-educational?

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