Strong genetic influence on a UK nationwide test of educational achievement at the end of compulsory education at age 16

PloS One
Nicholas G ShakeshaftRobert Plomin

Abstract

We have previously shown that individual differences in educational achievement are highly heritable in the early and middle school years in the UK. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether similarly high heritability is found at the end of compulsory education (age 16) for the UK-wide examination, called the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). In a national twin sample of 11,117 16-year-olds, heritability was substantial for overall GCSE performance for compulsory core subjects (58%) as well as for each of them individually: English (52%), mathematics (55%) and science (58%). In contrast, the overall effects of shared environment, which includes all family and school influences shared by members of twin pairs growing up in the same family and attending the same school, accounts for about 36% of the variance of mean GCSE scores. The significance of these findings is that individual differences in educational achievement at the end of compulsory education are not primarily an index of the quality of teachers or schools: much more of the variance of GCSE scores can be attributed to genetics than to school or family environment. We suggest a model of education that recognizes the important role ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 24, 2015·Scientific Reports·Kaili RimfeldRobert Plomin
Jul 21, 2015·Social Science Research·Artur Pokropek, Joanna Sikora
Oct 8, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Eva KrapohlRobert Plomin
Dec 1, 2015·PloS One·Lucía Colodro-CondeJuan R Ordoñana
Nov 2, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Riccardo E MarioniIan J Deary
Jun 20, 2018·Developmental Science·Sophie von Stumm, Robert Plomin
Sep 7, 2018·PloS One·Sundus YerdelenKathryn Asbury
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Jan 7, 2018·Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR·Philip S DaleMarianna E Hayiou-Thomas
May 13, 2019·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines·Kaili RimfeldRobert Plomin
Aug 20, 2019·Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise·Sari AaltonenKarri Silventoinen
Jun 1, 2020·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines·Eero VuoksimaaJaakko Kaprio
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Jan 23, 2020·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Margherita MalanchiniRobert Plomin
Sep 23, 2018·Sleep Health·Monica E Hartmann, J Roxanne Prichard

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