Learning
Edition 05 | May 2025
Edu- Praxis
The articles in this section let you dive into fascinating educational
research and uncover its practical applications in the classroom.
How Birthdays Influence Belief
Table of Contents:
The Study
How much impact does being born early or late in the school year have on a child’s performance?
Previous research on primary-aged students suggests this impact may be quite significant. This is
not surprising given that the oldest child in a year group can be as much as a 20% older than the
youngest at the beginning of primary school.
In terms of academic ability, the impact of this age gap reduces as students get older. But what
effect does it have on students’ self-belief in their academic abilities? In one of the study, the
researchers have tested this by monitoring the age, self-beliefs and university applications of over
10,000 15-year-old Australian students.
The Main Findings
- Compared to their peers, students who are older within the school year, rate themselves
higher in:
- Maths ability
- English ability
- Overall academic ability
- Controlling for actual academic achievement, being one of the younger students in the year was a negative predictor of going to university.
- However, if self-belief levels, which are malleable, are high, then being young in the school year does not have any significant impact.
Related Research
The Relative Age Effect is a term used to describe how those born early in the academic year tend
to perform to a higher level than those born later. One study of children ages 5–7 found a
relationship between the month a child was born in and their performance in a phonics test, with
those being born at the start of the school year performing significantly better.
Evidence from the Education Datalab highlights how the Relative Age Effect is more pronounced
in primary students compared with secondary ones. This is partly because, the younger you are,
the difference between being born at the start of the school year compared with the end is a
higher percentage of your total age.
Research from outside of education suggests that this effect is more widespread than many may
have thought. Recent work on this effect in sport, which combined the findings of 38 different
studies spanning 23 years, 14 sports and 16 countries, found that for every two participants born
in the last quarter of an annual age group, there were more than three participants who were born
in the first quarter. More specifically, the researchers discovered that the youngest within the year
group were less likely to participate in both recreational and competitive sport from under the age
of 14, to play at a regional or national standard aged 15–18, or to become an elite athlete.
Classroom Implications
The Relative Age Effect may have a slight self-fulfilling prophecy to it. Being born late in the year
means that these students are physically, emotionally and cognitively behind their elder peers to
start with. But, if this leads to these students being viewed either as not as smart or having
behavioural difficulties, then this label can stick to them. This in turn could lead to teachers,
parents and indeed themselves, viewing themselves through this lens whilst also believing that it
is a permanent feature of their personality.
Therefore, it is advisable when giving feedback to focus on the task, the child’s processes and the
child’s self-regulation, instead of on them as a person.
Reference
Parker, D., Marsh, H., Thoemmes, F., & Biddle, N. (2019). The negative year in school effect:
Extending scope, strengthening causal claims. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(1), 118
130.
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