The long‐term impact of schooling

A comprehensive monitoring system within England (ALIS: The A Level Information System) was extended to look at effective and ineffective departments as their pupils moved on to University and paid employment. It was thought possible that effective departments could have negative long‐term consequences as they pushed their pupils on to courses where they found themselves out of depth. This might have an adverse impact on their self‐esteem and academic achievement. This hypothesis was not supported by the data and several independent positive long term consequences of attending effective departments were noted. The effects however were slight and the results are discussed in relation to monitoring, accountability and complexity.