University of Oxford and Family and Childcare Trust's new report, Starting out right: early education and looked after children, warns that looked after children (children in care) are falling well behind children in the general population before they get to primary school. Opportunities to narrow the achievement gap between looked after children and their peers are being missed because too many looked after children do not receive good quality early education places. <P> The report -funded by the Nuffield Foundation- highlights numerous studies showing that high quality early education vastly improves outcomes for disadvantaged children and makes a number of recommendations towards making sure looked after children have access to high quality early education that boosts their outcomes and life chances.