Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of primary school starting age on (a) intellectual development, (b) social mobility and (c) results in (i) GCSE and (ii) A-level examinations.

Compulsory school age in England is five, although the School Admissions Code requires admission authorities to provide for the admission of all children from the September following their fourth birthday, which is when the majority of children begin school. Since all children in England generally start school at around the same age, it is not possible to compare them with another group of children receiving the same education but who started school at a different age, to assess what impact school starting age may have.

Evidence shows that early education has a beneficial impact on attainment in English and mathematics and that high-quality early education may help close the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children at the start of primary school. (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/455670/RB455_Effective_pre-school_primary_and_secondary_education_project.pdf.pdf).