Student handed fresh blow in fight against Newington College’s move to coeducation

A student’s attempt to stop a prestigious Sydney school from admitting female students has failed.

The student, who can only be known as Student A, had challenged the school’s decision to become co-ed from 2026 onwards.

He launched an appeal following his loss in May, however Chief Justice Andrew Bell, President of the Court of Appeal Justice Julie Ward, and Justice Stephen Free on Tuesday dismissed the appeal.

The decision followed a lengthy hearing in the Court of Appeal, during which the court was told Student A had faced difficulty in raising money to fund his fight against the school.

Newington College, which boasts yearly tuition fees of more than $45,000, in 2023 announced that the inner-west school would accept both boys and girls in a staged move from 2026.

The decision immediately sparked controversy among the school’s community, with a student attempting to argue the school could not be coeducational due to terminology in the school’s 1873 Deed of Indenture.

He argued the words “an efficient course of education for youth” was “limited to the advancement of education of boys and young men”, according to court documents.

The student, who can only be known as Student A, lost his case in May after Justice Guy Parker found the terminology was used in a “gender neutral sense” and “does not mandate male-only enrolment at the college”.

The statement of claim also argued the use of the college’s property “for coeducation would be a breach of (Newington’s) trust”, which Judge Parker dismissed.

Student A was ordered to pay the legal costs.