Filippi, Roberto;
Ceccolini, Andrea;
Perry, Roisin C;
Thomas, Michael SC;
(2025)
The Impact of Multilingualism and Socio-Economic Status on Academic Performance: Evidence from the SCAMP and the National Pupil Databases.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
(In press).
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Abstract
This study examines the impact of multilingualism and socioeconomic status on academic performance within the UK, utilising data from 3,213 pupils from the National Pupil Database who also took part in the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP). We employed multilevel modelling to analyse the relationship between language experience, socioeconomic status and Key-Stage 2 (KS2~11 years) and Key-Stage 4 (KS4~16 years) performance in English, Mathematics and Science. Findings reveal that multilingual learners initially face academic challenges at KS2, particularly in English and Science, but achieve comparable results with monolingual peers by KS4, overcoming early setbacks. Notably, simultaneous multilinguals not only catch up but excel beyond their monolingual counterparts by KS4, demonstrating the significant longterm academic benefits of early multilingual exposure and /or its associated cultural factors. Further analysis indicates that multilingual group membership mitigated the adverse effects of low socioeconomic status, with pupils from these backgrounds making substantial academic strides between KS2 and KS4 compared to monolingual peers. This challenges prevalent misconceptions about multilingualism in education. These findings underscore the need for educational policies that harness linguistic diversity to foster academic equity and success, emphasising the crucial role of language experience and socioeconomic factors in shaping educational outcomes.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Impact of Multilingualism and Socio-Economic Status on Academic Performance: Evidence from the SCAMP and the National Pupil Databases |
| Publisher version: | https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rbeb20/current |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author-accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Bilingualism, multilingualism, working memory, executive functions, cognitive development, bilingual advantage, education. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10196130 |
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