In the UK there are proposals to adjust the GCSE (high school final exam) marking system so pupils born in Autumn months (the beginnning of the academic year) are set higher pass marks than pupils born in the summer months. I am an August baby, and excusing the day-dreaming sessions in class, I have always performed relatively well. But the article below quotes a report that found that even a month's difference can have a negative effect on grades obtained (for the younger pupil).

Do you think this is necessary and fair?? Would you like to see this sort of policy where you live (given the controversy over the JAMB results and such)? Any thoughts please?

Teenagers born earlier in the school year should be set higher pass marks in their GCSEs, experts argue in a paper on Friday.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, the respected economics thinktank, is calling for pupils in primary and secondary schools to be set seven different pass marks, according to their month of birth.

Pass marks for children born in February and March would stay as they are, but they would be set higher for those born in the autumn and would be lower for those born in the summer.

It follows research that shows summer-born pupils perform less well in exams, are more likely to be diagnosed with mild special needs and have behavioural problems than their autumn-born peers. Even a month age gap between classmates can make a difference, studies show.

The disadvantage summer-born pupils face can have "potentially serious long-term consequences on their lives," the report, When you are born matters: Evidence for England, warns.

"It is plausible that some young people will drop out at the end of compulsory schooling simply because of the month they were born," the researchers say.

Children born in August are 6.4 percentage points less likely to achieve at least five Cs at GCSE, the IFS said. Among those in full-time education at 17, August-born students are 7.2 percentage points more likely to be studying for vocational courses than their autumn-born peers.

They are two percentage points less likely to go to university when they are 18 or 19, one percentage point less likely to go to a leading Russell Group university, such as Oxford and Cambridge and one percentage point less likely to gain a degree. Summer-born pupils also tend to have less confidence in their academic abilities, the report states.

"Our view is that this policy 'accident' should not be allowed to affect negatively those born towards the end of the arbitrarily defined academic year," the researchers say.

"Age-adjusted national achievement test scores are a simple and straightforward way of ensuring those born towards the end of the academic year are not disadvantaged by taking tests at a younger age."

The IFS analysed the test results of 11-year-olds from 2008-09. It found that pupils born in August scored about seven points less than those born in September.

Although the average differences between those born in different months diminish with age and are relatively small by the age of 16, the researchers recommend that age-adjusted measures should still be used to determine whether pupils have the potential to go to university.

Ellen Greaves, research economist at the IFS and one of the authors of the study, said: "Our findings point to a simple solution to the pitfalls of testing children born at the start and end of the academic year at very different ages: age-adjusting the cut-offs required for pupils to achieve particular grades would ensure that no child is prevented from going on to further or higher education simply because of the month in which they were born."

A major study, published in March, showed summer-born children are at a serious disadvantage in the majority of primary schools because teachers divide pupils according to their academic ability. A study of 5,481 children showed summer-born pupils are far more likely to be in the bottom sets.

The researchers found that parents and teachers rate the academic competence of August-born children lower than that of their September-born peers.

Teenagers born in August are more than six percentage points less likely to smoke and eight percentage points less likely to have tried cannabis than their autumn-born classmates.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/may/10/autumn-born-teenagers-higher-gcse-pass-marks

Ok, this sounds more like an hypothesis, it could be just noise given that the data was gathered within 2008-9. Maybe astrology is real after all, and the position of the heavenly bodies at the time of our birth shapes our lives.

I was born in November, and I was awful at school, like clowning and picking on others, my teachers were cheesed off. I was trouble.

Well I was bron in April nd I'm doin very gud academically same goes for som frnds born in April..so I guess dey might b ryt

phoinix: Ok, this sounds more like an hypothesis, it could be just noise given that the data was gathered within 2008-9. Maybe astrology is real after all, and the position of the heavenly bodies at the time of our birth shapes our lives.

I was born in November, and I was awful at school, like clowning and picking on others, my teachers were cheesed off. I was trouble.

Perhaps you had a superiority complex?

Vickii Ro: Well I was bron in April nd I'm doin very gud academically same goes for som frnds born in April..so I guess dey might b ryt

And you'd be performing marginally better because you're an April baby... would you welcome this change where u are?

Absolute bullsh!t

adaobi123: Absolute bullsh!t

... and coming to a school near you . I foresee people planning births around this shizzle if the grade-adjustments are implemented or not .

Flytefalls:
... and coming to a school near you . I foresee people planning births around this shizzle if the grade-adjustments are implemented or not .

Its not fair

Whats the point of it ? Just asking more people to fail, like how they scrapped January Modules for A levels.

adaobi123:

Its not fair

Whats the point of it ? Just asking more people to fail, like how they scrapped January Modules for A levels.

▲▲▲ this one was definitely born in the middle of July, she looks nerdier than Stephen Hawking

phoinix:

▲▲▲ this one was definitely born in the middle of July, she looks nerdier than Stephen Hawking

September

this is pure bollocks

i know someone the same month as me and the person is rather SLOW and i am SMART

adaobi123:

September

huh, pritty and nerdy, like Marie Curie

phoinix:

huh, pritty and nerdy, like Marie Curie

I would prefer to be a nerd than to be a dunce

aniiii: this is pure bollocks

i know someone the same month as me and the person is rather SLOW and i am SMART

Huh, prove it.

adaobi123:

I would prefer to be a nerd than to be a dunce

nerds are cool, I am one, do you play chess?

phoinix:

nerds are cool, I am one, do you play chess?

I don't unfortunately, I don't know how to play

Huh? Nonsense.

Feed that baby with fish from a very tender age, get him a library before the age of 6 and make sure he starts solving quadratic and simultaneous equations from the age 7-8.
I bet you nothing on earth can ever make that child grow to become a dullard.

hornipipe: Huh? Nonsense.

Feed that baby with fish from a very tender age, get him a library before the age of 6 and make sure he starts solving quadratic and simultaneous equations from the age 7-8.
I bet you nothing on earth can ever make that child grow to become a dullard.

Have you patented your math-tactical super-fisherman breeding program yet?

Flytefalls:
Have you patented your math-tactical super-fisherman breeding program yet?

No I haven't
When you have kids teach them majorly mathematics from tender age and see them perform excellently in all subjects when they grow up. It works like magic

hornipipe: No I haven't
When you have kids teach them majorly mathematics from tender age and see them perform excellently in all subjects when they grow up. It works like magic

You cannot solve life, like *poouff*, magic! Present your evidence first, and I shall consider lol. Right about now I'm hippy inclined re parenting; plan to allow any kids to feel the earth for themselves

Flytefalls:
You cannot solve life, like *poouff*, magic! Present your evidence first, and I shall consider lol. Right about now I'm hippy inclined re parenting; plan to allow any kids to feel the earth for themselves

I never knew life was a subject, what evidence do you need for something that has already been proven, tested and trusted .
What is there to feel on earth after growing up a dullard?

My kid vs your kid. Around 5 years time... The Olympic committee will design the challenges in conjunction with Mensa, WHO and McDonald's

Flytefalls: My kid vs your kid. Around 5 years time... The Olympic committee will design the challenges in conjunction with Mensa, WHO and McDonald's

McDonald's ? Was that supposed to be an @rse whooping ? I see y@ doing burgers justice growing up, does that account for your good academic performance and ... bulbous backside?!

phoinix:

McDonald's ? Was that supposed to be an @rse whooping ? I see y@ doing burgers justice growing up, does that account for your good academic performance and ... bulbous backside?!

Well, I guess it represents how well-grounded/normal our kids may be. What child doesn't know the basic elements of a happy meal . No point being smart with no real friends or normality

Flytefalls: My kid vs your kid. Around 5 years time... The Olympic committee will design the challenges in conjunction with Mensa, WHO and McDonald's

are you serious? Eating contest? Athletics? Questions from mensa would be nice.
Btw I don't think I'll be ready for kids in 5 years time though.

hornipipe: are you serious? Eating contest? Athletics? Questions from mensa would be nice.
Btw I don't think I'll be ready for kids in 5 years time though.

of course I'm not serious, I'd need a child old enough to be able to calculate so make it 12 years

Flytefalls:
of course I'm not serious, I'd need a child old enough to be able to calculate so make it 12 years

And how old will your child be in 12years time?
How do we even meet for the contest

hornipipe: And how old will your child be in 12years time?
How do we even meet for the contest

ask 190

Flytefalls:
ask 190

that clown?