Academic selection, behavioural adjustment and mental health

Abstract While some scholars have suggested that attending a high‐achieving school may be a risk factor for adjustment problems among young people, other recent causal evidence has indicated that selective schooling may actually improve mental health outcomes among young people. This paper presents new evidence on this matter from England, exploring whether attending a school with high‐achieving peers is associated with the use of hospital services related to mental health issues and associated adjustment issues. We typically find null—or otherwise very small—effects. No evidence emerges that young people attending England's academically selective grammar schools are more likely to use hospital services due to mental health or adjustment issues than their equally able peers attending a lower‐achieving school. A similar finding holds for comparisons between selective and comprehensive education areas in England more broadly. Our results provide little evidence that attending a high‐achieving school is a significant risk factor for serious mental health problems and adjustment issues.