囧研究:夏天出生的孩子考不上好大學

Summer-born children are considerably less likely to attend top universities than pupils with autumn birthdays, according to research published today.
今天公佈的一項研究顯示，比起秋天出生的孩子，夏天出生的孩子考上頂尖大學的概率要小得多。

The youngest children lag behind older classmates and struggle to properly catch up throughout compulsory education, it was revealed.
研究表明，夏天出生的孩子通常是班裏年齡最小的，他們往往落後於那些大一點的孩子，要想通過義務教育趕上其他同學，他們就得學得更辛苦。

Despite being given additional help by parents, those born in August are 20 per cent more likely to take vocational qualifications at college and a fifth less likely to attend an elite Russell Group university than those with September birthdays.
就算有父母提供的額外幫助，與九月出生的孩子相比，八月出生的孩子進入職業學校學習的概率要高出五分之一，而進入英國名校聯盟的羅素集團大學學習的機會卻要少掉五分之一。

The study — published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies — also lays bare the extent to which a child's date of birth influences their self-perception, social and emotional development and chances of being bullied at school.
這項研究是由財政研究協會公佈的，同時，該研究還指出，孩子的出生日期會對他們的自我認知、社交能力、情感發展，以及是否會在學校受欺負等都有關係。

Ellen Greaves, IFS research economist and the report's author, said: "It is clear that the consequences of the month in which you were born extend beyond educational attainment. We find evidence that, particularly at younger ages, summer-born children are more likely to report being unhappy at school and to have experienced bullying than autumn-born children."
Ellen Greaves是財政研究協會的經濟學家，也是該研究報告的作者，說道，“出生日期對你的影響不僅限於受教育的程度。有證據表明，在年齡較小的時候，夏天出生的孩子比秋天出生的孩子在學校裏更容易受到欺負並且過得不愉快。”

It compared children born in September — at the start of the academic year — to those with birthdays in August to gauge the effect that this had on a range of issues relating to education and personal wellbeing.
由於新學年都在九月份開學，因此，九月份出生的孩子與八月份出生的孩子會在接受教育方面和個人幸福感上存在差異。

Relative to peers with September birthdays, the study found that children born in August were:
與九月出生的同齡人相比，八月出生的孩子會有以下表現：

Likely to achieve "substantially" lower scores in national achievement tests and other measures of cognitive skills;
在參加全國考試和其他認知能力方面的考試中，成績會明顯偏低；

20 per cent more likely to study for vocational qualifications if they stay on beyond the age of 16;
16歲後仍繼續學習的人當中，20%的人更有可能進入職業學校學習；

20 per cent less likely to attend a Russell Group university aged 19;
19歲進入英國名校聯盟的羅素集團大學學習的機會要少掉五分之一；

Between two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half times more likely to be regarded as below average by their teachers in reading, writing and maths at age seven;
在任課老師看來，八月出生的孩子在閱讀、寫作和數學方面比平均水平低的概率要多出2.5到3.5倍；

More likely to exhibit lower social and emotional development;
更有可能顯示出更低的社交能力和情感發展水平；

Two-and-a-half times more likely to report being unhappy at school and twice as likely to report being bullied at the age of seven;
在7歲這個年齡段上，在學校過得不開心的概率要大2.5倍，在學校受欺負的概率要大2倍；

The study said gaps in performance decreased as children grow up.
研究也指出，隨着年齡的增大，這些差距會縮小。