Students in state non-selective schools have lower EduYears polygenic scores than students in grammar (d = 0.41) and private (d = 0.37) schools, with no significant difference between grammar and private schools¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i2 Non-selective state school students had significantly lower EduYears GPS than grammar school students (t = 4.87, p < 0.001; d = 0.41). → Smith-Woolley 2018
q3 i2 Non-selective state school students had significantly lower EduYears GPS than private school students (t = 7.17, p < 0.001; d = 0.37). → Smith-Woolley 2018
q3 i? There was no significant mean difference in EduYears GPS between grammar and private school students. → Smith-Woolley 2018
Evidence¶
Smith-Woolley 2018¶
Smith-Woolley, E., Pingault, J.-B., Selzam, S., Rimfeld, K., Krapohl, E., von Stumm, S., Asbury, K., Dale, P. S., Young, T., Allen, R., Kovas, Y. & Plomin, R. (2018). Differences in exam performance between pupils attending selective and non-selective schools mirror the genetic differences between them. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-018-0019-8
q3 · i2 · associational · r2
Observational analysis of a UK-representative genotyped TEDS sample of 4814 unrelated students, using a one-way ANOVA with planned contrasts on EduYears GPS by school type. The authors note the differences 'translate to more than a third of a standard deviation difference ( d = 0.41 and 0.37, respectively)'.
"Non-selective state school students had significantly lower EduYears GPS scores compared to grammar school students ( t = 4.87, p < 0.001) and private school students ( t = 7.17, p < 0.001)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- EduYears GPS correlates positively with GCSE (7.6% of variance) and with the selection factors ability (2.1%), achievement (5.2%) and family SES (6.6%) — related
- After controlling for selection factors and EduYears GPS, genetic differences between school types disappear and school type explains less than 1% of GCSE variance (down from 7%) — related
- Children in higher SES families have higher average polygenic scores for educational attainment — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
lower-eduyears-gps-in-non-selective-schools |
title |
Students in state non-selective schools have lower EduYears polygenic scores than students in grammar (d = 0.41) and private (d = 0.37) schools, with no significant difference between grammar and private schools |
description |
Students in state non-selective schools have lower EduYears polygenic scores than students in grammar (d = 0.41) and private (d = 0.37) schools, with no significant difference between grammar and private schools |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2018 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-26 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — smith-woolley-2018 |
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