Carried out by the University of Leeds, the research finds that children born just three weeks premature, who consequently fall into an earlier school year, are more likely to experience ‘significant setbacks’ in their education.
Using data from the Born in Bradford birth cohort study, the researchers found that the odds of children born prematurely not achieving a 'good' level of development at the end of Reception, were approximately twice as high as those for children born at full term.
Researchers analysed data on 10,000 children involved in the cohort study.
The children most at risk were those born prematurely in the summer months (June to August), who consequently started school a year earlier than expected. These children were three times less likely to reach a ‘good level of development’ compared to other children born prematurely during the summer, whose early arrival didn’t change the year they started Reception.
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