More than 2,000 people took part in a consultation into whether a Horsham girls’ school should become co-educational.
The consultation about allowing boys to join Millais School from September 2026, ran from May 5 to June 12.
The change was proposed due to falling numbers at Millais – which has not filled all its pupil places for the last three years – and a shortfall of places for boys in the Horsham area.
The results of the consultation – which included opposition from the school’s governing body and leadership team – were discussed during a West Sussex County Council scrutiny committee last week.
They showed that 2,141 people completed the online survey.
Of those, 1,132 (53%) supported the proposals, 966 (45%) objected to them, and 43 (2%) neither supported nor objected.
Jacquie Russell, cabinet member for children and young people, learning and skills, said the latest admissions saw Millais with around 45% spare capacity while neighbouring co-ed schools were over-subscribed.
She added: “This presents a problem for boys living in the Horsham area, particularly those living in and around Cowfold and Southwater, who invariably find themselves having to go through the independent appeal process to obtain a place at a school in their area.”
This issue was one of the top themes with those who took part in the consultation, with 246 people saying the boys should be able to go to a local school with their peers rather than being sent further afield.
Mrs Russell said that making Millais co-ed would ‘increase the number of available secondary school places for boys in the Horsham area and resolve the current capacity issue’.
In 2021, Horsham’s Forest School went co-ed, with assurances that there would be no impact on Millais.
Questions were asked about why the drop in numbers at Millais had not been foreseen.
Graham Olway, assistant director for school organisation, said: “There certainly was no evidence to suggest that there would be that level of impact. Previous application numbers for Millais School were very strong.”
Mrs Russell said that families were being placed under immense stress having to go through a lengthy appeal process to get their sons into a local school.
Some didn’t find out until the 11th hour that they were being sent as far afield as Burgess Hill and Steyning.
She added: “We can’t have boys going to independent appeals when there is a 45% spare capacity in a school – and that is the sad reality.”
The committee’s comments will be put to the council’s cabinet before a final decision is made.
