Using behaviour incentives to improve performance on high stakes tests: Evidence from a field experiment

We report the results of a large scale field experiment incentivising pupils’ effort and engagement in school, and examine the impact on high-stakes national exams. We compare cash and high-value collective event rewards. We consider heterogeneity of response by distinguishing a group likely to have high inherent motivation. While the overall average effect is zero, we find large and significant effects in Maths and in Science for the less-motivated group, of the order of 13% of a pupil-level SD. The responses of the two groups are statistically significantly different. The cash incentive was much more effective than the event treatment.