How does this work for academic year/university?

[kmo0416]

If someone was born in August of 2006, that means that when they were at school their classmates were born between September 2005 - August 2006.

Anyone born after August 2006, was a year group below them; anyone born before September 2004, was a year group above them.

Growing up, a person born in August 2006, would have been socialised with their age mates ie those in their year group. They would have done GCSEs/A-levels at the same time; gone to university at the same time (unless they didn’t go or took a gap year); would have taken part in the same championships and competitions due to the same age etc. This means they would have much in common.

When someone born in August 2006, was at school and in say, Year 13, for example, they would have likely thought they had much more in common with other Year 13s than someone in Year 12, even if that Year 12 was born in September 2006 (so only a few weeks after them).

This is as such person, even though a few weeks younger, would have been behind in terms of a year of education; would not be eligible for the same championships or competitions if they were based on year group etc.

All of this leads people to strongly identify with their academic age mates.

So, I wonder how this functions in university. Imagine if someone took a gap year and so the majority of the students in their cohort were not their age mates so a year group below, even if only a few weeks or months younger, they would not be their age mates. So, would this mean that such a person would profoundly find it difficult to relate to or understand such people because they weren’t part of the same academic year group?

How hard do you find it to relate to people who are not your age mates?

My best friend for most of my childhood was the school year above me and 18 months older than me… we met because we were neighbours not through school (went to different primaries, same secondary), so I don’t really understand your point. In sixth form, some people redid a year or left went and did something else then changed their mind and came back to sixth form - so we had people who were previously a year above move into our year. It wasn’t as rigid as you seem to think.

At uni, a one year age gap isn’t very noticeable. People who had more time out, even just 3 years did seem a bit more mature because those small age gaps do seem big when you’re that young. But they were not ostracised, they probably just thought that a lot of their peers were very immature!

Exactly. DS started school in the UK, but we moved to another country with a later school start when he was 7. He moved into the appropriate class in terms of number of years at school, but all his classmates were a year older. He’s still close friends in his teens with a group from that class, and they’re all between a year and eighteen months older.

Some of my closest university friends were MA students when I was a first year. (And started university verybyiun. I’d only turned 17 at the start of August.)

DD1 very late august birthday - other two summer borns - they've always had friends in and across school years - above and below - and get on with each other friends a few being considered friends to all of them.

DD1 does field work with other years at uni and does a uni group where they have new starters and third year PhD in - and about half the group on related degrees so she made a massive network of like minded people and others doing different course but with interest in her passion area.

DS booked accomodation - and they have option of putting up a bio - and many are a few yeras older - took longer through exams, or had to work a few years to afford it. So I think an age spread has got even more common taht when I was at uni - and there were many then on my course in halls - some mature studenst some few years older.

Once I was in the workplace - as a teen and later there were all age groups I was expected to work with - all at different stages of life.

No, this really doesn’t matter. And you shouldn’t worry that taking a gap year will have made Uni more challenging socially, it won’t.

You are continuing to massively overthink.
Do the course that best suits you if you get the grades this time around, probably the foundation year at Cambridge.

No one will much care if you are a just turned 18 last month or a 21 year old. Everyone who is off to uni for the first time and not a 'mature student' will be the same - all settling in to uni life and their course.

Remember some will have had a GAP year anyway.

Try maybe to
. not over think
. wait for your results
. if you get the grades accept the Cambridge offer
. if you don't make the grades accept something and move on in your life, don't waste time attempting to change again

Short answer: no.

A lot of countries do January- December.

Of course not. Your school year isn't anywhere near as significant a part of anyone's identity that it makes any difference to meeting and becoming friends with other people.

I had a four year gap between A levels and university; I lived with someone, got engaged, had a full-time job...

None of which made any difference in terms of making friends at university. It did make a difference in terms of my confidence.

You forget that people attending university have a common purpose. Like work colleagues, you bond over that, bringing your separate and diverse life experiences to it.

And age gaps get smaller as you age. There's no appreciable difference between me and my annoying little brother now we're in our 50s.

Never give it a second thought. You are overthinking this. It's not a thing.

I think it matters less once you get to adulthood. I went back to uni at 20 everyone else was 18 and the same age as my little brother. It was odd initially but as time went on became so less important. Looking at my own children who are 6&4 they don't care that other children are older or younger than them in different school classes. They also attend squirrels and Rainbows where they are the youngest or one of the oldest in a 2/3 year group.

No.

Looking at my own friendship group the age range is about 15 years. Some a bit older and some a bit younger. Some a lot older and some a lot younger. It really doesn’t matter.

My own children are teenagers and make friends quite easily with those both older and young than them.

I have a DC a about to start uni, the fact that she’ll be 17 will get in the way for socialising until she turns 18 but that’s only because she won’t legally be able to go clubbing etc not because she won’t make friends with the other freshers who are 18 and 19year olds 😆

My other D.C. plays on a uni sports team. He made friends through the team who spanned all 4 years of uni students. At 17 he was socialising with people of 22 and older. Really not a problem.

Not at all. Interests and values in common are far more important than age.

This.

To your original Q, OP, the students beginning 1st year university then bond over this shared experience, regardless of age. They will all also have had common past experiences they can bond over.

I have worked (as a teen, in 20s and now 40s) with people ten, twenty or more years older/younger than me and we are bonded because of the shared workplace experience.

How hard do you find it to relate to people who are not your age mates?

Not hard at all. I think the only time this matters (or is even apparent) is when you are actually in school and with the people from your school.

My daughter is 10 and still has another two years of primary school to go. All her close school friends are in the same year as her but she has friends from other activities who are above and below her school year. She also gets on well with cousins who range in age from 6 to 15!

I’m close to 60.

Yesterday I hung out with friends around my age. Did my voluntary work and saw two of my favourite clients who are in their late eighties and I always have a lot of fun with. In the evening we had dinner with DS and his GF, who are in their early twenties. I then spent the evening in a party with friends gaming who are all in their twenties and thirties.

It’s not about age it’s about personality. Some people just click with people more easily than others. The issues about school years is the brain is completely immature so it doesn’t see beyond socially constructed limits often.

My genuinely close friends range from 40 to 78, the sort you can discuss very personal stuff with.

Not even slightly. I’m 64 and this simply isn’t an issue.

For students, by the time they are late teens/early 20s a year or so either way is irrelevant. Going to uni they’ll be mixing with people from more different social groups, from across the U.K. and internationally, not living in a cosy bubble of people just like them. DDs pals included some who’d had gap years (one due to earlier ill health), one had been in the Navy overseas students who’d had to do a years national service, I think some of them might have done some sort of junior degree in their home country (probably wrong terminology), … it’s all part of why going to uni is good experience!

If someone is so immature they think they can only really click with people exactly their own school year, maybe they need a gap year - get out into the real world in some way and grow up a bit.

I teach in a sixth form college so you’d expect all the students in a class to be from the same year group, except often there’s a mix - some students have done a level 2 course for a year to make up for failed GCSEs, some resit a year or take up a new course, some have moved from another college etc. I’ve had students aged over 20 in a Y12 for one reason and another (although rare!). I will say the new 16-year-olds notice the age differences quite keenly but by the end of the second year courses it’s mostly evened out. I do find the ones who are outliers in age (either older or the youngest in the cohort) bring it up themselves quite often and are the target of some gentle teasing but practically it makes little difference apart from going to pubs and being able to drive at earlier or later times.

My DD has a very good friend who she met at nursery. They are now well into secondary school. My DD is born at end of August and her friend at the beginning of Sept. There have never been any issues & have done quite a few extra curricular activities together in the same group. Whilst I appreciate sport is often based on academic years, many othered are based on ability/experience. Some eg scouting/guiding are a range of years.

I also had a very good friend who lived in my street growing up who was in the year below me at school and we are still friends. I also had older friends in my street that I played with.

i don’t agree with your OP at all.

Not at all, no.

Surely most people are very used to interacting with people outside their school year? I don't v even understand why you think this might be a thing!

Ahhhhhhh it’s this poster. I agree with everything you said!

So, how would you explain the fact that year 13 students are normally more intelligent or more advanced in the subject that they are studying than year 12 students even if there are only a couple of months between them? Does this mean that if the year 13 student took a gap year before university whilst the year 12 student didn’t and they started university at the same time they would then be on the same academic level or would the year 13 student intrinsically be ahead like how they were ahead when they were in year 13?

University lecturer here, people in university vary hugely in terms of age and life experience and academic ability. I can have students who are 55 and 18 in the same class/cohort. Generally speaking, the older ones fair better. They have more motivation and life experience, including professional experience related to the course material. But I don’t think they see much difference between themselves. They just get on with the work and they socialise with whoever they connect with (which is more often the people they live with more than course mates).

That said, not everyone coming to university even at the same age has the same life experience. I’d been living quite an independent life since about 16, cooking for myself, did my own washing from about 11. My uni flatmate, also 18, had never operated a washing machine in her life because the house staff did her laundry. I literally had to teach her where the soap goes!

Well the answer is that they aren't always.

And even where they are, it’s not “more intelligent” necessarily, it’s just that they have had an additional year of education/experience/reading.

.

I had a friend at university who was 16, I was 18 and we also had a friend who was 22. There were no issues academically and the only social problem was that the 16 year old couldn’t join us clubbing.

I’m not sure what age you are but the older you get the more irrelevant this becomes

When you get into the world of work you’ll soon find that your boss won’t always be older than you.

At some point , it evens out.Surely you can see that?