Good language skills key to school performance
New research has found children with poor language skills at the age of five are less likely to do well by the time they leave primary school.
Analysis by the Institute of Education for the charity Save the Children found 23% of children who struggled with language at age five did not reach the expected standard in English at the age of 11 while 21% did not reach the expected standard in Maths.
Save the Children says the findings demonstrate the need for investment in good quality early years education.
The BBC's education editor Branwen Jeffreys spoke to mum Paula Davidson, and Gareth Jenkins from Save the Children.