Children who start school later gain advantage, new study shows
It’s the question many parents find themselves confronting: should they start their child at school early or hold them back? Now, we may finally have an answer, with one path showing increased confidence, resilience and a tendency towards economic success.
Advice
Don't miss out on the headlines from Advice. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Children who are held back and start school later than their peers gain an advantage that is still felt up to six decades later, a new study shows.
They are more self-confident, resilient, competitive and trusting, which tends to be
associated with economic success.
The analysis of 1007 adults aged between 24 and 60 illustrates the “potential adverse effect of school entry rules,” lead author Lionel Page from the University of Technology, Sydney said.
“Our findings indicate that school entry rules influence the formation of behavioural traits, creating long-lasting disparities between individuals born on different sides of the cut-off date,” he said.
Dr Page said relatively young students born before the cut-off date rather than after it suffered an unintended penalty.
School starting ages vary between Australian states.
In Victoria, children starting school must turn five by April 30 in the year they start school, whereas in Queensland and Western Australia the cut-off is June 30.
In South Australia,, they must be five by May 1 and in Tasmania they must be five by January 1.
Dr Page said the study’s findings suggested the relative age at school had an impact on people’s success in adulthood.
“We find that participants who were relatively old in school exhibit higher self-confidence about their performance at an effort task compared to those who were relatively young,” he said.
“Moreover, they declare being more tolerant to risk in a range of real-life situations and trusting of other people in social interactions.
“Taken together, this set of results offers important insights on the long-term effects of relative age at school on behavioural traits.”
MORE NEWS:
CONSTRUCTION TYCOON GROLLO IN BITTER FAMILY FEUD
SACKED TEACHER REINSTATED AFTER MARKS SCANDAL
LORD MAYOR SLAMMED FOR ‘PROGRESSIVE’ AGENDA
The new study was published by the Life Course Centre, a joint research project between the federal government and the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia.
It involved adults from Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
The findings come as a UNSW study found a quarter of students are held back so they start school when turning six, not when they turn five.
Natalie Codling, a mother-of-two from Kew is sending her son Tom, 5, to school next year with his friends Alice, 4, and Ruby, 4.
Tom turns six in June next year while Alice and Ruby will be five by the start of next year.
“He’s a tall boy so it was a no-brainer to send him,” Ms Codling said. “They are telling us socially all the kids will be fine and he’s very excited.”
She said she wanted to keep Tom in the same cohort as his friends given that they all go to preschool together.
Originally published as Children who start school later gain advantage, new study shows