New figures show that more parents are choosing to delay starting their children in school until they are five.

The number of five-year-olds starting junior infants climbed from 52 per cent to 72 per cent between 2000 and 2017 The Irish Times reports that a major factor in this shift in school-age culture is because of the free early childhood care and education scheme. Many parents are choosing to avail of the free year which is pushing up the age they start school. There is evidence to show that children who start school later have better judgement, longer attention span and are more susceptible to learning. These changes in starting school age mean that students could be up to twenty years old when they finish their Leaving Cert. What do you think? What age would you send your children to school?