Selective Schooling and Returns to Education

Many countries operate a schooling system where pupils are allocated to either an academic or vocational school based on an assessment of that pupil’s academic performance. This is referred as a selective schooling system or ability tracking. In contrast, in a comprehensive schooling system academic ability does not feature in school admissions, and schools cater to the full ability distribution. There is substantial variation in the type of schooling system both between and within countries, as many countries have moved to abolish or delay the timing of ability tracking in the post-war decades. This variation has provided researchers with opportunities to compare outcomes across countries which use different schooling systems, as well assessing the effects of schooling reforms within countries over time. This chapter reviews the empirical evidence on the returns to selective school systems