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%)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associationalr3·q3
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 i? After controlling for selection factors, there were no significant EduYears GPS differences between the three school types. → Smith-Woolley 2018
q3 i? After controlling for selection factors and EduYears GPS, variance in GCSE explained by school type dropped from 7.1% to 0.5%. → Smith-Woolley 2018 (2)
q3 i? Adjusted grammar school advantage was 0.026 SD in GCSE and private school advantage 0.07 SD, greatly reduced but still significant. → Smith-Woolley 2018 (2)
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 · i? · associational · r3
Analysis controlling EduYears GPS for the heritable selection factors (ability, achievement, SES) in the TEDS subsample with full selection-factor data. Similar null results emerged for state non-selective schools in areas of varying selectivity.
"We found that, after accounting for the variance explained by heritable selection factors, there were no significant EduYears GPS differences between students of the three school types: state non-selective, grammar and private"
Smith-Woolley 2018 (2)¶
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 · i? · associational · r3
Hierarchical linear regression with dummy coding tested school type effects on GCSE after controls. The article reports grammar 'M = 9.14; t = 2.35, p < 0.019' and private 'M = 9.32, t = 6.16, p < 0.001' versus non-selective M = 8.96; standardised betas of 0.03 and 0.07. No standardised effect size is printed for this finding.
"One of our main findings was that after accounting for the variance explained by the selection factors and EduYears GPS, the variance in GCSE explained by school type dropped from 7.1% to only 0.5%"
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
- 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 — related
- Academic attainment (GCSE results) at age 16 mediates the association between childhood ADHD symptoms and late-adolescent depressive symptoms — related
- Demographic characteristics (gender, age, SES, school type, race/ethnicity) were only small correlates of high school students' school feelings, explaining less than 9% of variance in positive and less than 6% in negative feelings — related
- Genetic instrumental-variable analysis supports a causal negative effect of higher BMI in childhood and adolescence on GCSE attainment and school absence (ALSPAC cohort) — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
school-type-explains-under-1-percent-gcse-after-controls |
title |
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%) |
description |
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%) |
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 |
2 — smith-woolley-2018, smith-woolley-2018-2 |
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