11 Plus Exams Forum

i think there is a massive difference between a child born in sept and one born in aug. a whole year must make a difference... otherwise the concept would not exist...

I wonder if there is disadvantage to summer born children in GCSE and A level exams too! They should apply age standardisation to those exams as well if they are thinking it for 11 plus.

By GCSE any gaps have closed and I am skeptical about them at 11 now everyone starts school in September which was not the case in the past.

The gaps may have pretty much closed in some (high achieving? ) circles but this paper suggests that there is still an impact, on average, at 16 https://www.ifs.org.uk/wps/wp1006.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From my observations it's not so much the amount of time spent in the classroom, but the maturity to be able to take advantage of the opportunities for learning which makes the difference - whether this is 4 year olds, 11 year olds (having just had a visit from our new year 6s, some are already sensible and eager to learn more, others are still "silly boys" who will spend most of year 7 unable to sit still and get a reputation which they will struggle to overcome) or 15 year-olds who discover too late that these GCSEs the teachers have been going on about for years are only weeks away... Yes there will always be a huge variation between individuals, but sometimes these are compounded by birth cohort, by always being the youngest, and become a spiral of underachievement

Obviously the plural of anecdote is not data but I have a few to offer from various friends:

X, August born, started reception in Easter already able to read , always smallest physically in his friendship group, not really a fan of school although did fairly well at GCSE but rather drifted through A levels unable to cope with the transition to more independent learning at 6th form college, lucky to still get his uni place as missed offer grades, really benefited from Year in Industry placement during which he grew up (in both senses) and ended up with excellent degree / PhD etc and now impressively tall! .

Y - one of twins born prem in June, completely flunked AS levels and had to start again with BTEC while twin sister managed to achieve necessary A Levels for uni place (Both less high-flying academically than older winter/spring born siblings)

Z- late July born, struggled socially at school (ASD and other difficulties) - left school at 16 and has taken 2 years on a catering course before returning to A levels at another college

Difficult to know what can be done nationally, as education is almost universally organised in year groups. But perhaps a recognition that many children may have to "catch up" with themselves - at different times during their education, and reduce the obsession with fixed ages for exams and hurrying onto the next stage. (I certainly think there should be more use of "take it when you're ready" grade-style qualifications, especially perhaps in numeracy/literacy for those who are not going to manage 5 A*-C (or whatever the new equivalent is) in an all-or-nothing showdown one June when they may still only be 15, but that's another debate)

So I have 4 children, all natured and nurtured in the same way.
DC1 (Dec) is undoubtedly the brightest, DC2 (mid April) is fairly bright, DC3 (new year) is undoubtedly the weakest academically, DC4 (late May) is in my opinion second brightest.

So for me it makes no difference at all.
We are all offended by something, disadvantaged by something else. You have to live with those problems for a lifetime, we can't standardise everything.. if you're really that worried get pregnant in January