When is your birthday – winter or summer? As a child this affects the type of birthday party you have, but were you aware that the time of year that you were born could also have a significant impact on your academic, sporting and career success?

Anyone who has observed a baby growing up would have noticed a staggering difference between a baby of a few weeks old – a helpless little thing – and a baby of 11 or 12 months who is likely to be crawling around and may be actually walking, understanding and saying words.

Not as emotionally mature as older peers

Even when kids are very bright and able to hold their own academically in the early years of school, you can often see that they are not as emotionally mature as their older peers. This age difference, so noticeable at Primary School, rapidly becomes less noticeable as the years pass. However, evidence shows that it continues to be a significant factor in later life.

A study by the Institute of Fiscal studies found that summer babies are 20-30% more likely to be considered below average by their teachers by age seven, and 7% more likely to report being always unhappy at school. They are also 6% more likely to report bullying, perhaps because of their smaller physical size. Autumn born babies are 25% more likely to go to Oxbridge. There is also evidence to show that sporting success is similarly affected.

The UK academic system is based around an Autumn start date. Nobody really knows why it’s Autumn but, anecdotally, this appears to be related to the harvest, mostly finished by early September, but before which both young and old were needed in the fields. It suits institutions very well administratively for everyone to start and finish at a set point, rather than operating rolling admissions, but it doesn’t take into account the developmental differences between children born up to twelve months apart.

In recognition of these factors, UK admissions codes have changed in recent years so children don’t now have to start full-time education until the term after their fifth birthday. Some families now decide to delay their children’s entry to school if they don’t seem ready, and it certainly seems that this could help equalise their child’s life chances.

Every child is different and there are exceptions to every rule

This could be yet another consideration for already guilt-ridden mums, feeling the pull of getting their children into pre-school and getting back to work. Of course, every child is different, there are exceptions to every rule and your child may well be ready – you know them best. At least you now have the choice.

And just in case you are still worrying about all this, remember Warren Buffet, Barack Obama and Alan Turing were all summer babies – so there!