Descriptive characteristics of the study sample by high school type
| Characteristics and outcome at 46 years old | High school attended (N/mean; %/SD) | |||
| N | Comprehensive and other | Grammar | Private | |
| Full sample | 8107 | 7229 (89.2%) | 308 (3.8%) | 570 (7.0%) |
| Male | 3892 | 3430 (88.1%) | 153 (3.9%) | 309 (7.9%)** |
| Female | 4215 | 3799 (90.1%) | 155 (3.7%) | 261 (6.2%) |
| Potential confounders | ||||
| Parental education: degree (10 years) | 6602 | |||
| Yes | 1146 | 852 (74.4%) | 86 (7.5%) | 208 (18.2%)** |
| No | 5456 | 5084 (93.2%) | 159 (2.9%) | 213 (3.9%) |
| Parental occupational class (10 years) | 6922 | |||
| I Professional | 467 | 319 (68.3%) | 34 (7.3%) | 114 (24.4%)** |
| II Managerial and technical | 1851 | 1540 (83.2%) | 104 (5.6%) | 207 (11.2%) |
| III Non-manual | 799 | 707 (88.5%) | 41 (5.1%) | 51 (6.4%) |
| III Manual | 2732 | 2622 (96.0%) | 57 (2.1%) | 53 (2.0%) |
| IV Partly skilled | 848 | 813 (96.0%) | 21 (2.4%) | 14 (1.6%) |
| V Unskilled | 225 | 221 (98.2%) | 3 (1.3%) | 1 (0.4%) |
| Weekly household income (10 years) | 6569 | |||
| Under £35 | 95 | 90 (94.7%) | 2 (2.1%) | 3 (3.2%)** |
| £35–49 | 272 | 255 (93.8%) | 13 (4.8%) | 4 (1.5%) |
| £50–99 | 1794 | 1718 ((95.8%) | 44 (2.5%) | 32 (1.8%) |
| £100–149 | 2317 | 2183 (94.2%) | 69 (3.0%) | 65 (2.8%) |
| £150–199 | 1160 | 1048 (90.3%) | 41 (3.5%) | 71 (6.1%) |
| £200–249 | 478 | 372 (77.8%) | 37 (7.7%) | 69 (14.5%) |
| £250 | 453 | 265 (58.5%) | 35 (7.7%) | 153 (33.8%) |
| Reading score (10 years) | 6042 | 41.7 (11.7) | 51.3 (8.7) | 50.8 (10.0)** |
| Maths score (10 years) | 6041 | 45.3 (11.3) | 55.0 (9.2) | 54.5 (10.8)** |
| Spelling Dictation task (10 years) | 6464 | 35.7 (10.1) | 42.2 (7.1) | 41.2 (8.0)** |
| Pictorial Language Comprehension (10 years) | 6575 | 62.1 (10.11) | 69.8 (9.5) | 69.1 (10.5)** |
| British Ability Scales (10 years) | 6010 | 61.1 (12.5) | 72.2 (11.1) | 71.4 (12.6)** |
| School missed due to illness (10 years) | 7063 | |||
| Yes | 2611 | 2400 (91.9%) | 84 (3.2%) | 127 (4.9%)** |
| No | 4452 | 3952 (88.8%) | 180 (4.0%) | 320 (7.2%) |
| Presence of disability (10 years) | 7077 | |||
| Yes | 453 | 409 (90.2%) | 12 (2.7%) | 32 (7.1%) |
| No | 6624 | 5958 (90.0%) | 249 (3.8%) | 417 (6.3%) |
| Outcomes | ||||
| Cardiometabolic | ||||
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 7068 | 28.6 (5.5) | 27.7 (5.4) | 26.9 (4.8)** |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 7180 | 124.2 (15.2) | 123.6 (14.2) | 122.0 (14.3)** |
| Pulse (beats per minute) | 7178 | 68.4 (10.6) | 66.7 (10.5) | 66.3 (10.3)** |
| Physical function | ||||
| Grip strength (kg) | 7146 | 38.0 (12.1) | 38.6 (10.9) | 39.5 (11.1)** |
| Standing balance: eyes opened (s) | 7054 | 28.1 (5.8) | 28.4 (5.6) | 28.8 (4.9)* |
| Standing balance: eyes closed (s) | 6118 | 11.6 (9.6) | 14.2 (10.4) | 14.3 (10.3)** |
| Cognitive function | ||||
| Immediate word recall | 8052 | 6.6 (1.4) | 7.1 (1.4) | 7.2 (1.3)** |
| Animal naming | 8047 | 23.5 (6.0) | 26.0 (6.8) | 26.2 (6.4)** |
| Letter cancellation speed | 7822 | 345.5 (84.1) | 351.6 (76.7) | 361.6 (82.7)** |
| Delayed word recall | 8046 | 5.4 (1.8) | 6.2 (1.7) | 6.1 (1.8)** |
*p<0.05, **p<0.01, using χ2 test or t-test across high school type.