POORER kids in Barnsley are significantly less likely to be ready for school than their wealthier peers, new figures show.

At five years old, children’s development is tested across 17 early learning goals, which cover skills such as motor functions, communication and language, mathematics, and personal, social and emotional development.

They are designed to determine whether a child is ‘school-ready’ at the end of their reception year.

New Department for Education analysis shows around 1,087 children in Barnsley are in the bottom fifth for deprivation across England.

Of these, 39 per cent did not reach the expected development standard across these areas by the end of the 2023/24 academic year.

However, for Barnsley children in the wealthiest fifth, this fell to 19 per cent.

Of all children in Barnsley, 34 per cent were deemed not ready for school – in line with the year before.