Telegraph, UK

Two-year-olds 'to be given compulsory education checks'
All two-year-olds will be given a compulsory “progress check” under Government plans to identify children failing to develop properly at a young age.

By Graeme Paton

Toddlers in England will be assessed to find out whether they can use basic words, respond to familiar sounds, communicate their needs and play with friends.

A Government overhaul of pre-school education being announced today will propose giving all parents a written summary of their children’s abilities in key areas between the age of two and three.

Ministers claim the test will identify early developmental problems and diagnose special needs at a young age.

It comes amid fears that too many children are currently starting school at the age of four or five without the skills needed to make a success of compulsory education. Almost half lack basic social and language skills, figures show.

But Richard House, senior lecturer in psychotherapy at Roehampton University, said the move risked branding children as "failures" at a young age. More