Perry, Roisin C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1541-0286, Tolmie, A., Toledano, M. B., Shen, C., Thomas, M. S. C. and Dumontheil, I. (2026) Increasing social inequalities in educational attainment over adolescence follow increasing inequalities in working memory. Mind, Brain, and Education, 20 (3).

Preview

PDF Mind Brain and Education - 2026 - Perry - Increasing Social Inequalities in Educational Attainment Over Adolescence Follow.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

By the end of primary school, the poorest UK pupils are around a year behind their peers in terms of educational attainment. This gap doubles by the age of 16. Using longitudinal data from the demographically representative Study of Cognition, Adolescents, and Mobile Phones (SCAMP), we previously showed that working memory (WM) gaps also widen during adolescence. In the current study, SCAMP data were linked with data from the UK Department for Education's National Pupil Database (n = 2726). Analyses showed that differences in WM skill development mediated some of the widening socioeconomic gradient in educational attainment during adolescence. Interestingly, some (parental occupation and income poverty), but not all aspects of socioeconomic status (parental education), predicted individual differences in academic progress via WM. While correlational, these results provide an important starting point for understanding different ways in which socioeconomic status might impact attainment during adolescence.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.1111/mbe.70048
Subjects:	Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Education
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2026
Dates:	Date Publication status 12 April 2026 Accepted 29 May 2026 Published Online
School, department or research centre:	School of Human and Social Sciences
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/15001
Sustainable Development Goals:	Goal 1: No Poverty	Sustainable Development Goals:	Goal 4: Quality Education

Downloads

Actions (admin access)