Dr Kirstine Hansen of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at London's Institute of Education, research director of the Millennium Cohort Study, analysed the Foundation Stage Profile results of 10,600 children, born in 2000 and 2001, whose development is being tracked by the study.
She found that children who are exposed to any kind of formal childcare are at an advantage in all aspects of development by the end of their first year at school.
'It would be worth policymakers exploring how, and why, these practices help children to develop to see if they offer any levers for assisting disadvantaged children's development,' Dr Hansen said.
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