Research and analysis

Pupils' perceptions shape educational achievement

Study into the perception of rewards when a pupil's answers are corrected by an unknown external examiner rather than his/her teacher.

Documents

Details

Differences in educational achievement between boys and girls, ethnic groups, and recipients of free school meals are substantial. For example, the number of boys getting 5 or more A to C GCSEs is about 6% lower than girls.

The objective this research is to study the perceptions of rewards when a pupil’s answers are corrected by an anonymous external examiner compared to when he/she is corrected by his/her teacher. It consists of evidence from a large-scale behavioural economics experiment. Pupils are rewarded based on answers to questions where there is discretion in teachers’ marking practices.

Updates to this page

Published 28 October 2010

Sign up for emails or print this page