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August babies are less likely to go on to top universities, says study
Researchers say August babies underperform compared with older children in their school year throughout their working lives
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August babies are less likely to go to top universities, a study has found. They are more likely to study vocational courses. Photograph: Andrew Fox/Alamy
Jessica Shepherd, education correspondent
The Guardian, Tue 1 Nov 2011 00.01 GMT
Children born in August, the youngest in each school year, are less likely to go on to study at top universities than their older classmates, a thinktank study has found.
Researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examined whether there was a link between the month in which a child is born and what they tend to do when they leave school.
They studied three data sets, which represent the records of 48,500 children and teenagers in England. They found children born in August were 20% less likely than their classmates born 11 months earlier. in September, to go to Russell Group universities – the top flight that includes Oxford and Cambridge. They were more likely to study vocational courses instead.
Claire Crawford, one of the authors of the study, said August-born children may "end up doing worse than September-born children throughout their working lives, simply because of the month in which they were born".
"Studying for academic qualifications, attending a Russell Group university, and believing that you have control over your own life are all associated with a greater chance of being in work and having higher wages later in life," she said.
A previous study by the IFS, published in 2007, showed August-born children were significantly less likely to be academically successful than their September-born classmates. The latest study – Does When You Are Born Matter? – found parents tried to compensate for any potential disadvantage by reading to August-born children more. But they began to help them catch up only after the children started school.
The researchers found teachers were two and a half times more likely to regard August pupils at seven as below-average in maths. While 63% of teachers deemed September pupils "very ready" to start secondary school when they were nearing the end of their last year at primary school, only 49% did for August children. The researchers said this might imply that there needs to be extra help for August children to make an easy transition between school stages.
August children were less likely to be confident in their academic abilities than their September peers and twice as likely at seven to report that they have been bullied.
The study found the differences were at their most stark at primary school. Children in England start primary school in the September following their fourth birthday. The researchers said it could be that September-born children are significantly older than their August-born classmates when they sit national tests.
Ellen Greaves, another of the authors, said the government "should be concerned about the wider educational experience of summer-born children, who appear to be at a disadvantage in terms of their wellbeing as well as their test scores".
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