The long-term effects of grade retention: Empirical analysis on French data

Abstract

In order to estimate the causal impact of grade retention in French lower secondary school on various long-term outcomes, we conducted a longitudinal study on the trajectories of French students who entered grade 6 in the 1995-1996 academic year over a period of 17 years. The results indicate that grade retention has a significant negative impact on both obtaining a secondary school diploma and a higher education qualification. This affected students across all socioeconomic groups, both boys and girls. However, the negative effect on wages is observed only for boys and for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. A series of robustness checks confirm the reliability of the results.