Children born in November are top of the class, a new study suggests

04 February 2023 , 10:00

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The study explored the relationship between a child’s birth month and their academic attainment (Image: Getty Images/Maskot)

Working hard in school is essential for developing skills and learning knowledge - but did you know that a child’s birth month could have an impact too?

Data collected by edtech specialist Atom Learning has revealed that kids born in November are most likely to excel academically at primary school, while July-born children are the slowest to catch up.

Scores were collected from 5,000 Year 6 pupils and analysed to gain an insight into the relationship between a child’s birth month and their academic attainment - with November babies topping the rankings.

These findings challenge the assumption that September-born children do the best in school, while August-born struggle the most.

Researchers found that children born in the autumn typically do better than their peers academically, while summer-born babies - who start school shortly after their fourth birthday - struggle to make up the difference.

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However, kids born in June proved an exception to this rule as they had the eighth highest attainment scores, ahead of both March and May-born children.

The data also suggests that kids with birthdays in January will likely sit in the middle of the classroom rankings.

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The data also suggests that kids with birthdays in January will likely sit in the middle of the classroom rankings (Getty Images/Image Source)

Academic performance was measured based on an attainment score in Maths, English, Science, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning exercises, with a range of 0 to 4,000.

Check out the birth month average attainment scores - as found by Atom Learning - below:

Birth month - Average attainment score

1. November - 3046

2. September - 3045

3. December - 3041

4. February - 3024

5. October - 3016

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6. January - 3014

7. April - 2997

8. June - 2995

9. May - 2991

10. March - 2982

11. August - 2973

12. July - 2932

Anna Masterson, Chief Learning Officer at Atom Learning, said: “Children born later in the academic year inevitably have less time to grow their vocabulary, practise their social skills or simply take in the world before Reception starts.

“This can affect their adjustment to primary school and put them slightly behind their classmates at first. It’s important that we recognise this potential disadvantage and address it.”

The education expert added: “But this data is also a helpful reminder not to focus all of our attention on August babies and neglect the development support needed by children born in other months.

“Spring babies falling behind kids born in June, for example, shows us that this issue isn’t as clear cut as autumn versus summer.

“But parents shouldn’t panic. As long as we give each child the right kind of support for their individual needs and have patience while they get up to speed in primary school, there’s no reason all children can’t thrive.”

This comes as teachers in England and Wales, who are members of the National Education Union (NEU), have embarked on their first day of strikes on February 1, which threaten to disrupt more than 23,000 schools.

Freya Hodgson