Students born in August have less chance of going to top universities

A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed that students who were born in August are less likely to study at top universities than their peers.

The study, which used the data of 48,500 students in England, examined whether there was a link between the month in which a child was born and what they went on to do, after leaving school.

The results showed that August born students were 20% less likely to attend one of the Russell Group Universities than those who were born eleven months earlier, in September.

The report also revealed August born children have a greater chance of being bullied and of lacking confidence in their academic abilities. It is predicted that as many as 12,000 young people a year miss out on university places, simply because of the month in which they were born.

Experts were shocked and concerned at the impact that birth month appears to have on academic success, particularly as the largest amount of births occur between July and September.

Author of the report, Ellen Greaves 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 well being as well as their test scores”.