You may have heard the term academic redshirting and be wondering what it means. It refers to a child commencing school the year after they are first eligible (Edwards et al., 2011). Academic redshirting originates from the practice of redshirting in sport which is common in the United States of America (USA). Redshirting involves some college athletes spending an additional year on the sideline for growth and development purposes, before playing the following year (Graue & DiPerna, 2000). The result is often an athletic advantage, with the redshirted athlete typically being older and potentially stronger from the additional year of practice. From an academic viewpoint, a delayed school entry may result in a child commencing formal schooling older, taller, and potentially more cognitively able than their peers (Dhuey, 2016; Graue & DiPerna, 2000).
Internationally, approximately 4 to 9 per cent of children are academically redshirted each year(Bassok & Reardon, 2013; Dhuey, 2016; Huang, 2015) with a notable variance in ratesbetween countries.Bedard and Dhuey (2006) considered countries which stipulate a single, mandatory cut-off date for school entry to have clean education systems. For example, England, Iceland, Japan, and Norway. There is little or no evidence of academic redshirting or retention (repeating a year) in these countries (Bernard & Dhuey, 2006).
On the other hand, academic redshirting rates are more prevalent in countries with ambiguous education systems (Bernard & Dhuey, 2006). Education systems are considered ambiguous if they offer greater flexibility through the provision of both a minimum entry age and a mandatory cut-off date. Countries with ambiguous education systems include Australia, Germany, Ireland, and the USA (Bedard & Dhuey, 2006). For example, a child in NSW, Australia, can commence formal schooling provided they turn five by July 31st, or they must be in compulsory school by the age of six (State of New South Wales [Department of Education], 2023). Therefore, parents with a child born between January and July have the choice to decide whether to send the child to school at the earliest opportunity or to delay school entry.
Academic redshirting rates in Australia are considerably higher than the international averages mentioned earlier. Data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) reported 14.5 per cent of Australian children were academically redshirted each year (Edwards et al., 2011). Recent data from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) showed 26 per cent of children in NSW were academically redshirted in the 2009 and 2012 Foundation year cohorts (Hanly et al., 2019). This equated to nearly half of all children who were eligible (children with January to July birth dates) delaying school entry in NSW.