Segregation in primary schools and the social inequalities in test results in Hungary (2006-2019)

Abstract

This paper examines the school performance and segregation of primary school students from different social backgrounds over the 2006-2019 period. Our results show that there has been a significant increase in the inter-school segregation of students in general, and a particularly large increase in segregation took place in the case of students in the bottom income quintile. In the second half of the period, the social inequalities in test results also increased. There is an association between segregation and social inequalities: in the districts and cities where segregation is stronger, the social inequalities of test results are generally larger.