Why sleepy teens need their beds: Letting youngsters lie in could boost exam results Playing music and games in lessons also boosts academic performance Methods could be studied as part of a £6million research project Research shows the teenage body clock runs two hours behind adults Parents may not approve but allowing teenagers to lie in could boost their exam results. Late start times and playing music and games during lessons are potential ways of boosting academic performance that could be studied as part of a £6million project. With studies showing that the teenage body clock runs two to four hours behind the adult version, possible experiments include testing the effect of different school start times. Sleeping in: The teenage body clock runs two to four hours behind the adult version, study reveals (file picture) Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a neuroscientist at University College London, said that researching the timing of lessons shows "real promise." She told BBC Radio 4"s Today programme: "The circadian rhythm - the body clock changes around the age of puberty. We all know that before puberty, children are really wide awake and most alert first thing in the morning and get sleepy in the early evening and at puberty, that inverses, so that adolescents find it really hard to go a night. This adolescent "time shift" persist until the age of 21, when the pattern starts to reverse and by the time we reach our 50s, we get out of bead as early as when we were young children. Some schools have already experimented with early start times but it felt that that firm evidence that they are beneficial is lacking. Research is already underway into whether weekend classes boost learning or sap energy. Sleeping trends: This adolescent 'time shift' persists until the age of 21, when the pattern starts to reverse when we reach our 50s when we start to wake up earlier (file picture) Kevan (CORR) Collins, of the Education Employment Foundation, said: "We want to know if there is any benefit from going to school on a Saturday morning as well as in the week or could you actually be putting children off by taking them away from a fantastic time doing something else. Other possible ideas that could be put to the test include whether playing music or games in the classroom boosts brainpower and whether pupils would benefit from lessons being broken down into bitesize chunks. Academics and teachers are being encouraged to collaborate on projects supported by the Education and Neuroscience fund. Dr Hilary Leevers (CORR), of the Wellcome Trust, which set up the fund with the Education Employment Foundation, said: "Neuroscience is an exciting field that holds a great deal of promise for understanding how our brains work and, through application, for improving how we learn and perform." Sir Peter Lampl (CORR), of the Education Employment Foundation, said: "Knowing the impact of neuroscience in the classroom will also make it easier to spot the plausible sounding fads and fakes, which don't improve standards. This is essential if we are to increase the attainment of pupils, particularly those from low-income families.