The impact of exam timing on academic performance: Analyzing grades and passing rates in higher education

We study the effect of exam timing on academic performance among Dutch university students. Analyzing 400,055 grades from 24,280 students across seven academic years (2017/2018-2023/2024), we test whether students, in particular younger students, perform worse during morning exams. Additionally, we use the start of the Daylight Saving Time to help identify whether this effect is driven by sleep deprivation. We find evidence that students perform worse during morning exams and in the week following the start of the Daylight Saving Time.