Should my twins be in the same class at school? As a clinical psychologist specialising in twins, this is one of the most frequent questions parents ask me. Many schools continue to separate twins due to a deep-seated belief it is better for the development of separate identities. Both research evidence and clinical experience tells us it is not so simple. How many twins are there? What happens to twins is not a niche issue.
In Australia, twins represent approximately one in every 80 pregnancies. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1.4% (4,286) of pregnancies were multiple births in 2022, with the vast majority of these being twins. As these statistics suggest, each year there will be many parents who have to navigate what happens to their kids at school and many teachers will have a twin in their classroom. Old school rules for twins Traditionally, schools did not tend to ask parents for their views when placing twins in classe