Hot classrooms lead to poor exam results

HOT weather harms children’s chances of doing well in exams, a study has found.

Research led by Harvard University found a “significant” link between higher temperatures and lower school achievement, with each 0.55C increase above 21C (70F) costing one per cent performance.

The analysis of 10 million US children’s test scores taken across 13 years suggests air conditioning should be used to keep classrooms cool, the researchers said.

The study found that hotter weather made it harder to study in lessons in school and to concentrate on homework out of school, though colder days did not seem to damage achievement.

The reduction in learning accelerated once temperatures rose above 32C (90F) and even more so above 38C.

The data showed that students were more likely to have lower scores in years with higher temperatures and better results in cooler years. This applied across the many different types of climate, whether in cooler northern US states or in the southern states where temperatures are typically higher.

Joshua Goodman, associate professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, said students were incrementally more likely to be “distracted, agitated and find it harder to focus”.

However, the researcher said it would be harder to carry out similar studies in the UK, because the differences in weather conditions would have been much narrower.