Previous studies, including those using ALSPAC data, have found that children who are born prematurely are at risk of poorer educational outcomes than their peers. They have also found that summer-born children in England, who are the youngest in their school year, do worse than children born at other times of year. School entry in England is based on chronological age, and so it has been hypothesised that children who are born early and in the summer months may be 'doubly disadvantaged' as they are both premature and start school a year earlier than they would have had they been born at term.

Recent research by researchers using Born in Bradford data found evidence of this 'double disadvantage': children who were born pre-term and who started school a year earlier than they should have had they been born at term, were less likely to have a 'Good Level of Development' at age 5 years than their peers who were summer born but not pre-term, or who were pre-term but started school within the same school year as they would have had they not been premature.

Our proposed project using ALSPAC data will aim to replicate and extend the Born in Bradford findings.