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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Relations of high school to university

Overview

  • Influence: Relations of high school to university
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Prior knowledge and background
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to considerably accelerate
  • Influence Definition: The degree to which high school achievement is an optimal predictor of university performance Most often the prediction is from some form of high school GPA to performance at the end of first year university

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 7
  • Number of studies: 2,110
  • Number of students: 143,989
  • Number of effects: 7,042
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.54
  • Robustness index: 5

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Psychological Bulletin Kuncel, Hezlett & Ones A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of the Predictive Validity of the Graduate Record Examinations: Implications for Graduate Student Selection and Performance 2001 High school grades to university grades 1,753 82,659 6,589 0.52
Educational and Psychological Measurement Goldberg & Allinger Assessing the validity of the GRE For Students in Psychology: A Validity Generalization Approach 1992 High school grades to university grades 27 4,423 97 0.21
Applied Psychology Schuler, Funke, & Baron-Boldt Predictive validity of school grades: A meta-analysis. 1990 High school grades to university grades 63 29,422 63 1.02
Zeitschrift Fur Padagogische Psychologie Trapmann, Hell, Weigand, & Schuler Die Validität von Schulnoten zur Vorhersage des Studienerfolgs-eine Metaanalyse (The validity of school-grades for academic achievement: a meta-analysis) 2007 High school grades to university grades 83 NA 83 0.90
Psychological Bulletin Richardson, Abraham & Bond Psychological Correlates of University Students' Academic Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 2012 Traditional high school and GPA 135 NA 135 0.32
Journal of Educational Psychology Peers & Johnston Influence of learning context on the relationship between A-level attainment and final degree performance: a meta-analytic review. 1994 A levels to university grades 20 23,589 60 0.57
Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice Zhang & Kuncel Moving Beyond the Brag Sheet: A Meta-Analysis of Biodata Measures Predicting Student Outcomes 2020 Biodata to university grades 29 3,896 15 0.85
TOTAL/AVERAGE 2,110 143,989 7,042 0.63
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