News

The shocking impact that being born in August has on students' education

Senior leadership Pupil wellbeing
Research discovers that summer-born children do worse in exams, are less likely to go to university, more likely to take risks such as smoking, and more likely to be labelled with SEN – all because of how we organise our school system. Pete Henshaw report

A child born in August is less likely to achieve five “good” GCSEs and more likely to be diagnosed with mild SEN when compared to a child born in September.

August-born children are also likely to have significantly lower confidence in their own abilities.

A study into the impact of being born at the end of the English academic year rather than the beginning has found a range of striking differences in achievement and educational experiences.

The headline finding in the report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies is that August-born children are 6.4 per cent less likely to achieve five GCSEs or equivalents at grades A* to C when compared to those born in September.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here