Children born in August do significantly worse in exams thanclassmates born 11 months earlier at the beginning of the academicyear, a landmark study shows.
August-born boys are 12 per cent less likely thanSeptember-born boys to get good GCSEs and girls are 9 per cent lesslikely。
In addition, August-born youngsters are 20 percent more likelyto ditch academic study and learn a trade from the age of 16. Theyare 20 per cent less likely to go to an elite university。
And it is not just their education that suffers as they aremore likely to be bullied at primary school and have lowerconfidence in their academic ability。
As a result as teenagers, they are also more inclined tosmoke, binge drink and take cannabis and fewer are in control oftheir lives, according to a report published today。
Claire Crawford, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)，co-author of the report, said children face a penalty "simplybecause they are unlucky enough to have been born late in theschool year"。
To redress the balance, August-born children could spend ayear longer at school under proposals put forward by the study''sauthors。
Or they could sit tests only when they are deemed ready, orhave their test scores age-adjusted。
The shake-up would involve ending the arbitrary system whichexpects pupils to reach academic levels by the end of a "key stage"at school。
They would instead be expected to achieve those levels by acertain age, for example the crucial "level four" byeleven-and-a-half rather than by the time they leave primaryschool。
Another alternative, suggested by the authors, is to changethe admissions process to ensure children only start school after acertain age。
