SCHOOLS Secretary Ed Balls today opened a consultation on plans to allow summer-born children to start school at the age of four.
The reform would give summer-born youngsters up to two extra terms in school.
The four-week consultation begins days after the Cambridge Primary Review said that children would benefit from starting formal lessons at the age of six.
The authors of the report, the most comprehensive review of primary education in England for 40 years, found that children responded better to play-based learning at a young age.
But the Government rejected the proposals, saying it would mean that many children would “start a long way behind others”.
Mr Balls pledged to give all children the option of starting school the September after they turn four, following a recommendation from Sir Jim Rose’s review of the primary curriculum in April.
