Cognitive ability and conscientiousness are more important than SES for educational attainment: An analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study

The influences on children's success in education remain a profoundly important topic of enquiry. The dominant view is that socioeconomic background (SES) is critical. This study examines the influences on student performance in the General Certificate of School Education (GSCE) taken at age 16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland analysing data from the Millennium Cohort Study. The GSCE results of 8303 students were converted to a numerical score. Two psychological factors – cognitive ability and their level of conscientiousness – could explain almost as much of the variation in exam attainment as all measures, and far more than a model of socio-economic factors. The power of psychological traits in influencing key educational outcomes is underestimated. •Antecedents of educational attainment of great interest•Dominant paradigm focuses on SES of children.•Cognitive ability and conscientiousness have stronger record in research findings.•Using new UK MCS longitudinal survey data, GCSE state exam performance assessed•Cognitive ability and conscientiousness explained far more than SES measures