School plan for summer-born pupils

Sir Jim Rose's interim report on his review of the primary curriculum will say all children should start school the September after their fourth birthday. But it will suggest that

parents of summer-born children be given the chance to send their youngster to school part-time to begin with to ease them into school life. This could mean children attend only in the

mornings or afternoon, for 15 hours a week. Sir Jim's report, due to be published on Monday, will say that this option could also suit children with special educational needs.

Currently, most children do begin school in the September after their fourth birthday, although some local authorities allow children to start later in the academic year. There have been

ongoing fears that summer born children do less well in school and Mr Balls asked Sir Jim to look into the issue. Research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that there was

an "education penalty" for August-born children, who tend to do worse in national tests than their autumn-born peers. This gap is at its widest during the early school years, but

can affect GCSE and A-level results. Sir Jim's report will conclude that parents need to be given more information about the pros and cons of when their child starts school.