LONDON,  (Reuters) – Children should delay the start  formal schooling to the age of six, a year later than at  present, the largest review of primary education in England for  40 years recommended yesterday.

The 608-page Cambridge University study said introducing  children at the age of five into the constraint and discipline  of a classroom — a throwback to Victorian days — provided  little benefit and could even be harmful.

“They are not going to learn to read, write and add up if  you have alienated children by the age of four and five,” said  Gillian Pugh, chairwoman of the Cambridge Primary Review’s  advisory committee.

“That’s the stage at which we are tuning children into  learning … If they are already failing by the time they are  4-1/2 or five, then it’s going to be quite difficult to get them  back into the system again,” she added.

Although the authors of the report stopped short of  recommending a rise in the starting age of compulsory schooling  from five, they called for an “open debate” on the issue.

They said children up to the age of six should instead be  given the more informal, play-based education typically found in  nurseries.

“Extending the early years phase to age six or seven would  give schools up to three years to work with children to  establish positive attitudes to learning and the necessary  language and study skills which are crucial to raising standards  in the long term,” the review said.