Intelligent people are born in a specific month, study says: You may be among them

I was born in October and went to school a year later. So I was the oldest child in my class. And it’s true that I never had a problem finishing my homework first, other classmates were often amazed at how quickly I could complete some tasks. Recent research shows that a child’s age really does have a big impact on how intelligent they are among others in primary school.

By high school, I was no longer quite among the elite of my class. And in college, where my age began to differ significantly from the others, there I often couldn’t even compare with the others. Generally, though, kids born in September (or early October) are considered intelligent. Usually especially during primary school, because then their classmates start to catch up.

The smartest children in the class

Children who are born in September have a small but quite important intelligence advantage at school. That’s according to a cognitive development survey of more than 1.2 million public school students in Florida. Students ages 6 to 15 were compared on their ability to reason logically and complete tasks quickly. It turned out that those born in September or early October typically performed best in the classroom.

The explanation is not complicated. Children who start school when they are older have better cognitive development. They don’t have to focus as much on certain things and small gaps build up, so they tend to hand in their homework first and with the best results for the rest of primary school. This is regardless of other factors (such as socioeconomic status).

Later, the others will catch up

It’s true that I excelled in elementary school. However, that doesn’t mean that my classmates were any worse off. Rather, it’s that children born in the fall are often far ahead of what’s expected of them. But research also shows that later in life, other children will catch up to their peers, and the difference of a few months of age will certainly not be noticeable permanently.

“The school organization’s policy for grouping students in the same academic year is based on date of birth. Differences in the experience and maturation of older students include relatively better academic performance, known as the relative age effect. This effect is more important the younger the student,” explains Juan-José Navarro. This means that the older a person is, the less their age affects the intelligence differences between them and their peers.

It is therefore true that, in general, in primary school, people born in September are considered the smartest. And this often applies to those of us born in early October. On the other hand, things can change later on and some people find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that they are no longer the best at everything in secondary school.