Members of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) on oracy and speech and language difficulties warn that one in four children who struggle with their speech at the age of five do not reach expected standards in English by the time they leave primary school.
Meanwhile, one in five do not reach expected standards in maths.
Disadvantaged children are hardest hit, with more than half of children starting school with delayed language skills in some areas of deprivation, MPs say.
They want the government’s forthcoming Schools White Paper to recognise the links between speech problems and illiteracy and innumeracy.
Support with speech needs to be universal but with a focus on deprived areas and helping children who have persistent spoken language problems, they add.
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