Very premature children may need extra educational help

The study, carried out by a University of Nottingham research team, found that extremely premature children particularly struggle with maths.

The research team analysed the intelligence and academic prowess of 219 UK 11-year-olds who had been born before 26 weeks in 1995.

Their performance was compared with that of 153 classmates who had been born after a normal-length pregnancy.

The study found that one in three children born extremely prematurely found reading difficult, while almost half (44 per cent) struggled with maths.

However, only 29 of the 219 children were at special schools. The rest attended mainstream schools, where more than half (57 per cent) had special educational needs, most of which required additional learning support.

In all, two thirds had academic and behavioural special educational needs compared with 11 per cent of their classmates and 24 per cent of schoolchildren in England. They were also more likely than their classmates to require multiple support services

Professor Neil Marlow, a member of the research team that put the report together, said the research indicates that premature children may benefit from being held back a year group before starting school.

"Perhaps keeping them down a year before they start school is good for them because they cope much better and need less special educational support," he said.