Consequences of Academic Selection

In this chapter, I critically review relevant literature on the consequences of academic selection that has been published since the beginning of the twenty-first century, with the aim of assessing the overall benefits, and potential drawbacks, of academically selective education systems. Initially, I focus on evidence pertaining to the capacity of academic selection to improve educational outcomes for students. I then proceed to evaluate the impact of selection on the social composition of schools and the capacity of selective education systems to foster equality of educational opportunities for all students. I assess the evidence pertaining to the potential of academic selection to promote social mobility, which is one of the commonly purported benefits of selection: it allows bright children from poorer backgrounds to avail of educational and vocational opportunities that would not have been accessible to them otherwise. Finally, I consider evidence pertaining to other knock-on consequences of academic selection, such as its implications for learning and teaching in schools, and the effects of failure to obtain a place at an academically selective school on students’ future socio-emotional outcomes.