Image form Westminster School’s Facebook page

Westminster School, the central London independent school, is to admit girls to all year groups for the first time, The London Weekly has reported.

Girls have been allowed to join its sixth form for the past 50 years. The new policy applies to the under school, which currently takes boys from the age of seven, and the senior school, where pupils join from the age of 13.

A spokesman for Westminster School said future pupils will need “a passionate love of learning and the aspiration to pursue that love in a unique school that is both very ancient and deeply progressive.”

Lord Lucas, editor of The Good Schools Guide, commented: “Many schools have trodden this road before most successfully and I think it’s where parents want to be. It’s not the solution to everything but every boy must recognise that in their first job they may well have a female boss, and they should be able to form constructive and responsible relationships with women. It’s much easier to do that in a co-ed school. I do think there is a long-term place for girls-only schools and that will always be the case. But I think boys are pretty much universally more civilised if they are educated with girls.”