Children born in August do significantly worse in exams than classmates born 11 months earlier at the beginning of the academic year, a landmark study shows.
據英國《每日郵報》11月1日報道，一項具有里程碑意義的研究顯示，八月份出生的孩子比起那些年長11個月于九月份學年開始時出生的孩子，在考試中明顯表現得要糟糕一些。
August-born boys are 12 per cent less likely than September-born boys to get good GCSEs and girls are 9 per cent less likely.
八月出生的男生比九月出生的男生在獲得優秀的GCSE課程成績的概率上低了12%，而女生則低了9%。
In addition, August-born youngsters are 20 percent more likely to ditch academic study and learn a trade from the age of 16. They are 20 per cent less likely to go to an elite university.
此外，八月出生的青少年有20%以上的幾率在16歲時選擇拋棄學術學習，轉而去學習職業技能。而他們進入名校就讀的幾率也低了20%。
And it is not just their education that suffers as they are more likely to be bullied at primary school and have lower confidence in their academic ability.
在教育狀況方面，這些孩子不僅僅是在上小學時更容易被欺負，也降低了他們在學術能力上的信心。
As a result as teenagers, they are also more inclined to smoke, binge drink and take cannabis and fewer are in control of their lives, according to a report published today.
今日發表的一篇報道中說，對于十幾歲的青少年來說，這樣的情況也導致他們更容易吸煙、酗酒、吸食大麻，難以掌控自己的生活。
Claire Crawford, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), co-author of the report, said children face a penalty "simply because they are unlucky enough to have been born late in the school year".
這篇報告的合著者，來自英國財政學會（IFS）的克萊爾•克勞德福說，孩子們面臨著一種懲罰，“僅僅只是因為他們不幸地出生在學年末”。
To redress the balance, August-born children could spend a year longer at school under proposals put forward by the study's authors.
該研究的作者提出建議，為了匡正這種平衡，八月出生的孩子應該在學校多待一年。
Or they could sit tests only when they are deemed ready, or have their test scores age-adjusted.
或者是只有當他們認為準備好了以后再參加考試，要么就讓考試成績根據他們的年齡加以調整。
The shake-up would involve ending the arbitrary system which expects pupils to reach academic levels by the end of a "key stage" at school.
政策的大調整應該包括終止這種任意的系統，這一系統期望學生在學校生活的“關鍵階段”結束時達到要求的學術水平。
They would instead be expected to achieve those levels by a certain age, for example the crucial "level four" by eleven-and-a-half rather than by the time they leave primary school.
取而代之的應該是期望學生在特定的年齡達到相應水平，比如說，要求學生在十一歲半時達到“四級”，而不是在他們從小學畢業的時候。
Another alternative, suggested by the authors, is to change the admissions process to ensure children only start school after a certain age.
作者還提供了另一種選擇，就是改變學校的錄取進程，以保證只有適齡的兒童才能入學就讀。