§ Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the examination performance of English children at KS2, GCSE and A = level still varies to a statistically significant extent according to the month of their birth; if so, what is the extent of this variation at each level; and whether the examination performance of children with unfavourable birth months might be raised by letting them start school a year later. [HL4400]
§ Baroness BlackstoneResearch by the National Foundation of Educational Research (NFER) in England and Wales (1997) found that children's attainment at Key Stage 1 was significantly related to their age, season of birth and length of schooling. More recent research (Tymms et al, 2000) shows that the gap tends to close during the primary years.
At GCSE, research by Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR) published in 1998 found a statistically significant variation in pupils' examination performance according to the month of their birth. Similar work by OCR at GCE A level found this variation then diminished. We are not aware of any more recent research in this area.
Tymms et al (1997) considered that other factors such as school attendance, prior attainment and school attended are more significant for pupils' ultimate performance than the month of their birth.
Current legislation requires that pupils start school by the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday. Many parents do choose to enrol their children before that. There are no plans to raise the age of entry.