Hot weather can hit students’ exam chances

Taking exams can be stressful enough, without having to sit in sweltering classrooms and stifling school halls. Now a new study has found that hot weather can adversely affect children’s chances of doing well in exams.

Researchers in the US have reported a link between higher temperatures and lower school achievement. They discovered that in years with hotter weather pupils were likely to perform less well in exams, with hotter temperatures making it more difficult to concentrate in lessons and on homework out of school.

The academics, from Harvard University, the University of California (UCLA) and Georgia State University, said that “cumulative heat exposure inhibits cognitive skill development”. They added, however, that using air conditioning to keep schools cool in hot weather can mitigate this effect.