Youngest in year fall behind peers, study shows
Pupils born in August will not do as well as their older peers, according to a study.
Researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies looked at 48,500 reports and compared when children were born with their academic ability, finding that younger pupils in a school year suffer most.
Those born in August were 20 per cent less likely to make it to the top universities and instead often opt for vocational courses.
Furthermore, September children are more likely to be ready for secondary school-level maths and English, while August-born students will struggle more.
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."
Ms Crawford also suggested that August children were less confident in their academic abilities than their September peers.
Education policies brought in by Labour aimed to improve the academic chances for disadvantaged youths. The initiatives included the Sure Start programme, free nursery education for all three-year-olds, the early childhood curriculum, the Children's Act 2002 and the Every Child Matters project.
