Early grade repetition may boost performance

A new study by Stellenbosch University has found that repeating early school grades can lead to significant and lasting academic improvements for pupils who struggle to meet promotion requirements, particularly in language literacy.

- OWN CORRESPONDENT

The report, authored by Ros Clayton from Stellenbosch University's Research on Socio-Economic Policy (RESEP) Group, examined the impact of grade repetition in Grade 1 and Grade 4 using data from nearly all primary school pupils across six provinces: the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West.

By comparing pupils who narrowly failed promotion thresholds with those who just passed, the study found that repetition functions as a meaningful form of academic remediation, rather than simply a deterrent to poor performance.

According to the findings, pupils who repeated Grade 1 recorded an average increase of 18.3 percentage points in Home Language marks in Grade 2, with gains remaining statistically significant through to Grade 4. Similar improvements were recorded in mathematics and First Additional Language subjects.