Are high-IQ students more at risk of school failure?

While it is well-established that intelligence tests positively predict academic achievement, there remain widespread beliefs that gifted students experience difficulties at school and are particularly at risk of school failure. Many studies have provided evidence to the contrary, however few were based on representative population samples. This paper intended to assess whether prior results on the academic success of gifted children could be generalized to a large sample from the general French population. We analyzed a database of French middle school students (N = 30,489), including scores in a fluid intelligence test in grade 6 and a variety of school performance measures in grade 9 (results at a national exam, teachers' grades, academic orientation in high school). In addition, self-efficacy and motivation were assessed. Our results replicate and extend previous findings: high-IQ students scored much better on all academic performance measures, which was corroborated by higher levels of motivation and self-efficacy. Consistently with the previous literature, there was a robust positive relationship between fluid intelligence in grade 6 and academic performance in grade 9 in the whole sample, which was also observed within high-IQ students. Exploratory analyses revealed that IQ moderated the association between social background and children's achievement, such that the positive link between parental education and achievement levelled off for high-IQ children. The positive association between high-IQ and achievement was similar for boys and girls.