A new Cambridge study will advise the government on which premature and poorly babies are most likely to struggle in school and require additional educational support early in life.

The research team will study 1,000 babies admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at three NHS hospitals in the east of England: the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

The children’s physical and mental health, as well as their educational outcomes, will be tracked until the age of 16.

Cambridge research indicates that one in three babies admitted to a NICU fail their school readiness assessment at the age of five, with consequences that last into adulthood. This is double the failure rate for all children in the UK.

The Department for Education has signalled its interest in the study’s findings, providing funding through UK Research and Innovation to investigate which interventions are most effective.

Alongside existing measures – such as Sure Start programmes, psychological help, and enhanced support for parents – these interventions could include one-to-one sessions on language development, reading, or numeracy, as well as small-group classes focused on emotional, social, memory, and attention skills.

Around one in ten babies are admitted to a NICU after being born prematurely or for other medical reasons, such as low birth weight or breathing difficulties.

A key part of the study will involve analysing the results of the government’s school readiness assessment, taken by children at the age of five. The assessment is carried out at the end of reception and uses teacher observation to measure a range of skills, from dressing and eating independently to basic counting and writing.

David Rowitch, a Cambridge professor of paediatrics and the principal investigator of ‘The babies’ longitudinal outcomes, ’omics and milestones study’, said it was surprising that school readiness had not previously been examined as an outcome.

“Even though there are 70,000 children admitted to NICU each year in the UK, we don’t know how they do in school because linking to school readiness has not been carried out,” he said.

The study, funded by a £4 million award from the Wellcome Trust, will also analyse blood samples and genetic data to find ‘biomarkers’ that could identify children most in need of early educational support.

Researchers will speak to parents about their child’s time in intensive care, their child’s development, and whether they felt their child was ready to start school.

Catherin Aiken, a professor from Cambridge’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the chief investigator of the study, said: “This study has been led by the questions parents are asking, that we notice in our practice, that we don’t know the answers to.

“There are always parents asking us to predict ‘will my baby be okay? Is this going to have a long-term outcome? What will it be like growing up? ’ It’s really difficult as doctors and clinicians to not have those answers […] The impetus of this study comes from the idea that we should know more […] so we have the answers for parents about what they can do to help their child.”

Aiken added: “Not every child with a tricky start has a problem later on […] But we know that they’ve got a higher chance than most children of needing extra support. What we don’t know is that nuanced detail of ‘what’s different about this kid who does fine and this kid who doesn’t do fine? ’”

Rowitch also emphasised the importance of identifying learning issues before children start school to ensure effective intervention: “Waiting until age five to find out about a problem is not ideal […] We want to be able to say: ‘There’s a red flag. Here’s a child who should be admitted into an interventional support programme’.”

He noted that early action is vital, as children who fail their school readiness assessments are more likely to experience problems in adulthood, including poor physical or mental health, incarceration, and early death.

Rowitch said: “The study is very much in line with the overarching prevention medicine research strategy of the Cambridge Children’s Hospital.”

Construction of the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital is expected to begin shortly on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.