- Home
- Publications
- Assessing The Variance In Pupil Attainment: How Important Is The School Attended?
Assessing the variance in pupil attainment: how important is the school attended?
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/themes/niesr/assets/img/calendar-alt.png)
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/themes/niesr/assets/img/chain.png)
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/3-900x900.png)
Related Themes
Education and SkillsJEL Code
I21
Journal
National Institute Economic Review
Publisher
Sage Publications, London
External Resources
Issue
243
We explore the variation in pupil attainment at the end of secondary schooling in England. The paper links data on all schools and all pupils within these schools to analyse the role of the school in accounting for this variation. We analyse a number of different indicators of pupil attainment including value added between the end of primary and secondary schooling and attainment levels at the end of secondary schooling. We examine indicators that were the focus of the school accounting framework as well as other indicators that were not directly part of how schools were assessed. We show that schools account for a minority of the variance in pupil attainment, and the extent of the variation accounted for by the school is sensitive to the measure of pupil attainment used. In addition, we find that the majority of the explained school-level variance in attainment is related to school composition. However, most of the variance in attainment remains unexplained, raising questions about what other factors contribute to the variation in school performance.
Related Blog Posts
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Skills-Mismatch-640x640.jpg)
Understanding Skill Mismatches and Regional Mobility
Larissa Marioni
Adrian Pabst
22 Apr 2024
4 min read
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/iStock-1457239282-640x640.jpg)
What Can Be Done To Better Protect Children and Young People From Serious Safeguarding Incidents?
Sophie Kitson
Ekaterina Aleynikova
19 Feb 2024
9 min read
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/NIESR-ICICLES-Blog-640x495.webp)
Putting Increased Pressure on a Fragile System Does Not Help
Claudine Bowyer-Crane
Cecilia Zuniga-Montanez
15 Jan 2024
5 min read
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Higher-Education-Monday-Interview-Hero-Image-640x640.png)
Related Projects
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Child-Reading-Books-640x640.jpg)
Catch Up Literacy Pilot Study
![Community concept](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/community-640x640.jpg)
Better Start Bradford
Related News
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mobile-Phones-Schools-Ban-640x640.jpg)
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/iStock-1213665869_0-640x360.jpg)
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/NuffieldSchoolsApril21_1-640x360.jpg)
Press Release: Targeted home support could be key in children’s early language development
21 Apr 2021
5 min read
Related Publications
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/School-Leaders-Project-640x640.png)
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Duncan-Adam-Smith-and-the-Bankers-640x640.png)
Adam Smith and the Bankers: Retrospect and Prospect
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Miller-Promises-Perils-Smithian-Growth-640x640.png)
On the Promises and Perils of Smithian Growth: From the Pin Factory to AI
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review
![](https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Coyle-Economic-Progress-Adam-Smith-Dilemma-640x640.png)
Economic Progress and Adam Smith’s Dilemma
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review