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Researchers find ‘sibling spillover effect’

Action research
From Bill Clinton to JK Rowling, first-born children have a reputation for being high-flyers who excel at school and work. But new research has found that having an older brother or sister who does well at school boosts the performance of younger siblings

But new research has found that having an older brother or sister who does well at school boosts the performance of younger siblings too.

According to a study by academics at the University of Essex’s Institute for Social and Economic Research, having a high-achieving older sibling is equivalent to £670 of school spending on the younger sibling’s score.

The effect of what has been called “the sibling spillover effect” doubles if the siblings attend the same school.

The study, Sibling Spillover Effects in School Achievement by Dr Birgitta Rabe and Professor Cheti Nicoletti, used data from the National Pupil Database, which covers the results of 93 per cent of children in the UK through their time at state school.

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