Grit may become more important after 16 when forming lifelong goals

Said sticking to old goals may get in the way of learning new knowledge

Pupils are often told the importance of never giving up and battling against obstacles.

But new research finds that having ‘grit’ – the ability to persevere - only contributes to 0.5 per cent of academic achievement in their exams.

Teaching pupils to be persistent in the face of setbacks– known as ‘character education’ in the teaching profession – has been thought of as a fruitful way of boosting educational performance both in the UK and the US.

But researchers have found it makes only a small contribution to exam success at 16.

Schools aim to teach pupils 'grit' - the ability to persevere - but it only contributes to 0.5 per cent of academic achievement in their exams, a study has found (file photo)

The findings may disappoint education secretary Nicky Morgan, who announced a £5million plan in 2014 to encourage teaching ‘character and resilience’ in schools – specifically looking at making Britain’s pupils ‘grittier’.

The authors of the study from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London looked at how important grit was to academic success.

Defined as ‘perseverance and passion for long-term goals’, the personality trait has previously been found to be linked to success in specialist areas such as spelling competitions in the US.

When it comes to GCSE exams, the new study, used a sample of 4,500 16-year-old twins found grit only accounted for 0.5 per cent of success at GCSE.

The twin study was used as a way of accounting for the role of personality differences educational success.

As identical twins share the same genes, studying differences in their personalities can help to show what effect this has on their educational attainment.

The researchers found that overall, personality factors, including grit - overall only accounted for about six per cent of the differences between GCSE results.

SHOULD WE BE TEACHING PUPILS GRIT? Grit is defined as ‘perseverance and passion for long-term goals’, and has previously been found to be linked to success in specialist areas such as spelling competitions in the US. In the UK, education secretary Nicky Morgan, announced a £5million plan in 2014 to encourage teaching ‘character and resilience’ in schools – specifically looking at making Britain’s pupils ‘grittier’. But new research finds that having ‘grit’ – the ability to persevere - only contributes to 0.5 per cent of academic achievement in their exams. The biggest predictor of GCSE success is intelligence which accounts for roughly 40 per cent of achievement. Behaviour, home and school environment and motivation add up to roughly another 4 per cent. A further 50 per cent of success cannot be predicted, the Kings College researchers said. Advertisement

The other personality measures looked at were extroversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness and openness – known to psychologists as the ‘Big Five’. Conscientiousness was found to partly overlap with ‘grit’.

Grit was measured by a questionnaire that measured perserverance of effort and consistency of effort.

The test asked whether the respondent agreed with statements such as ‘setbacks don’t encourage me’ and ‘I have a difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete’. Other statements used included ‘I often set a goal, but later choose to pursue a different one.’

The authors say that it is possible ‘grit’ becomes more important after age 16 and ‘becomes increasingly important when individuals understand what their lifelong goals as well as their interests are.

They also say that sticking to old goals may get in the way of learning new knowledge.

They write: ‘although it is good to keep focused and interested in the task at hand, it is also sometimes more adaptive to focus on new ideas and projects without distraction.’

They also suggest that it may be better to nurture intellectual curiosity – as a hungry mind can lead to greater perseverance and effort.

The study’s first author, Kaili Rimfeld from the Institute of Psychiatry said: ‘Until now there has been very little evidence about the origins of differences between children in grit and its influence on academic achievement, despite the fact that it plays an important role in UK and US education policies.

The biggest predictor of exam success is intelligence which accounts for roughly 40 per cent of achievement

‘Our study suggests that grit adds little to the prediction of academic achievement when other personality factors are taken into account.

‘This does not mean that teaching children to be grittier cannot be done or that it is not beneficial.

'Clearly children will face challenges where qualities of perseverance are likely to be advantageous.

'However, more research into intervention and training programmes is warranted before concluding that such training increases educational achievement and life outcomes.’

The research also found that how gritty we are is 37 per cent down to our genes.