School Track Choice

ZEW economists Thilo Klein and Sarah McNamara provide “evidence through design”: The study uses school data from Hungary for a natural experiment and compares children who were barely admitted to or just missed out on a place in the highest school track. In this way, the actual effect of attending a Gymnasium can be identified, independently of the influence of classmates, and reliably measured.
The results show that attending the Gymnasium has positive effects on academic achievement and aspirations to pursue higher education – regardless of social background or previous grades. Especially children from families with low socio-economic status benefit: Their families invest more in extracurricular education, and the children achieve at least as much academic progress as their peers from more privileged households. However, they are less likely to secure a place at a higher-track school, which reinforces existing educational inequalities.

The study challenges the general assumption that strict grouping according to academic performance is necessary to promote high achievers. Rather, the results show that factors such as motivation and behaviour within the classroom environment play a greater role than grouping together high-achieving students.

Overall, the findings reveal that it is not a lack of ability, but unequal access opportunities that contribute significantly to educational inequality. The results therefore suggest that strict grouping according to academic performance at an early age – as, for example, in the German school system – should be critically questioned and that more flexible transitions between school types should be considered.