MORE disadvantaged children are arriving at school still wearing nappies as Britain’s nursery postcode lottery gets worse, the former children’s commissioner for England has warned.

Anne Longfield said young children are being held back, entering school using buggies and unable to communicate properly with their classmates due to a crisis in early years provision.

A report from her Centre for Young Lives think tank and health equity group Child of the North, published today, said the pandemic exacerbated many early years developmental problems, warning that, since the pandemic, a widened language gap between children from more and less advantaged communities could hinder an entire generation of young people.

It warned that around a third of children were not considered to be “school ready” in 2022/23, calling on the government to act to “prevent a downward spiral, from poor spoken language through poor literacy and numeracy to longer-term effects” on their lives as adults.

The research — which looked at Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) data on five-year-olds’ development in England — suggested that 72 per cent of pupils who were not eligible for free school meals were school ready in 2022/23, compared with just 52 per cent of eligible children.

It highlighted the postcode lottery of school readiness, with just 59 per cent of children in Manchester school ready compared with 84 per cent in London.

The new government was urged to implement positive parenting programmes and home visits by trained professionals to increase support to families.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “Years of underinvestment and disinvestment has meant lots of families can’t access the support they need in their children’s early years.

“This lack of investment hits those with the lowest incomes the hardest, who often can’t access forms of support available to wealthier families.

“The report shows that this inequality is embedded before children even start school and remains difficult to escape from throughout childhood and into adulthood.

“We welcome the government’s commitment to invest in new early-years settings, which we urge it to make state-maintained and education centred.

“The government should also invest in programmes which can support families with young children with education and healthcare, and commit to making sure every child can thrive.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced last week that extra childcare places in school-based nurseries will be available from next year to help deliver the expansion of government-funded childcare.