The impact of school choice on students' university entrance rank scores in Australia

This paper examines the impact on students' end of school achievement of choosing a new type of school for the final two years of high school (grades 11 and 12). In some regions of Australia, high schools end at 10th grade and students are required to choose a new school to attend for 11th and 12th grade, thus requiring all families to make a new choice between schools in the Government, Catholic or Independent school sectors. By comparing students from the same source schools who make different choices of schools to attend in 11th and 12th grade, the authors examine the impact of this choice of schools on the students' eligibility for university. This eligibility is measured by their Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) score awarded upon completion of 12th grade. We find that the educational aspirations, motivations and ambitions of students who choose to attend Independent schools for 11th and 12th grade are different to those who chose to attend Government or Catholic schools. Nevertheless, the positive effect of attending an Independent school on students' ENTER scores appears to reflect more than this selection effect.

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