Bounty

Summer-born children are more likely to have lower average attainment during their school careers compared with their older peers, according to a new study which looked into the influence of a month of birth on a child's educational achievement.

Research published by the Department for Education has found that at least 10,000 August-born teenagers - the youngest in their school year - fail to achieve five good GCSEs every year.

At the age of five, performance of children born in September, who are the oldest in their year, is two times better than that of August-born pupils, representing a gap of 24 percentage points.

There was a gap of eight percentage points between performance levels of autumn and summer-born pupils in their English and maths national curriculum tests, at the age of 11.

When they reach 16, summer-born pupils are six percentage points less likely to score five or more GCSEs at grade C or above, compared with their classmates born in the autumn.

According to the report, summer-born children are better behaved outside the classroom, and are more likely to be bullied. They also attend classes more regularly, with less suspensions and expulsions.

Copyright Press Association 2010