Summer-born pupils: Do they need an exam boost?

A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies says that pupils in England who are born in August are less likely to get five A star to Cs at GCSE than those born in September.

The IFS wants exam marking to be weighted so that summer-born children have their exam marks boosted to compensate for being almost a year younger when they sit tests.

Report co-author Lorraine Dearden told BBC Radio 5 live's Breakfast that the IFS found ''the younger you are in school, the worse you do", and exams should be ''age- adjusted''.

But Dame Sally Coates from The Burlington Danes Academy said: "We should not making excuses for how children do in exams".