The day when kids first fill up their children's backpacks and head to pre-school can be an emotional day for parents.

However, ensuring youngsters attend nursery is important for their development, especially if they are from a disadvantaged background.

This is according to the Quality, Outcomes and Costs in Early Years Education study, which revealed that the access pre-school offers children to books is the key.

Commissioned by the Office for National Statistics and carried out by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the study looked at 7,939 children to generate the data.

It found that youngsters who started education before the age of one scored higher in tests than those who began over the age of three or four.

Commenting on the research, University of East London reader in early childhood Eva Lloyd remarked: "It's actually quite hard these days to find children in Britain who do not get some experience in a pre-school environment which helps their socialisation."

Posted by Teresa O'BrienADNFCR-3005-ID-19831794-ADNFCR