Research suggests that boarding schools are disruptive to education

Sending disadvantaged children to boarding schools may not automatically lead to an improvement in academic performance, according to a Warwick Economics professor.

Dr Clement de Chaisemartin, alongside fellow scholars Luc Behaghel and Marc Gurgand, conducted an investigation on 395 children from low-performing French schools to measure the impact of boarding schools.

All of the individuals in this study were applying for places at one of the country’s internats d’excellence, ‘boarding schools of excellence’, in Paris, which teach students from poor families for free.

Of the 395 students, 258 were admitted to study at the school, the other 137 continued at regular schools acting as the study’s control group. The study involved the use of cognitive and non-cognitive test at the end of each academic year.

After two years, when sitting a Mathematical test, those who were at the boarding school outperformed those who were attending regular schooling.

However, Dr Chaisemartin also found that boarding school may not have as much impact on weaker students. He explained: “We found this positive effect was mostly seen in students who were already doing well in maths before they started boarding.

“The students who were weaker to begin with did not seem to benefit from being there – even after two years there were no test score gains among them.”

These findings have led to a questioning of boarding’s schools as a system.

Following these results Dr Chaisemartin has vocalised his concerns regarding the wellbeing of those students who do not fully adjust to living at a boarding school.

In conclusion to the findings he stated: “Overall, boarding seems to be a disruptive form of schooling and it doesn’t automatically lead to better academic performance.

“Once they’ve adjusted, stronger students make substantial progress, but for weaker students boarding school might not be a suitable approach.”

Ayush Ansal, a first-year Warwick Business School student who attended Gordonstound boarding school, stated: “If a pupil wants to be academically successful then he or she should choose the environment that offers the best facilities to support their studies.

“If a student can visit a private tutor while at day-school, then that would be more appropriate, but if the boarding school offers more attention from teachers, then that would be more suitable.”

Mr Ansal stated: “The same logic applies if a student wants to succeed in another field such as sport or music. They should attempt to place themselves in an environment that best stimulates their ambition.”