Middlesbrough is the worst place in the country for children not being properly prepared to start school, and the town ranked lowest in the OFSTED findings.
South Tyneside was second worst.
The findings come as a new report says that children in the most deprived areas get the poorest pre-school childcare.
However, staff at one nursery in Middlesbrough say the report unfairly labels their youngsters.
Middlesbrough has been named as the worst area in the country for the number of children who are ill prepared for starting school.
The town led in the Ofsted findings, with South Tyneside emerging second.
The report from the Policy Exchange found parents living in the most deprived parts of the country receive the poorest childcare, leaving youngstest ill equipped for full-time education.
The report says that the gap between childcare in rich and poor areas needs to be reduced.
The North East is to have its own Regional Director to drive up standards and quality of education in the region, according to a report from Ofsted.
Another Ofsted report, also released today, found that there were huge variations in the quality of education and learning across local authority areas.
Middlesbrough was found to be the third worst performing local authority area in the entire country.
Ofsted confirmed that Nick Hudson will take up the post of North East and Yorkshire and Humber Regional Director for Education, Learning and Skills from January of next year.
Regional Directors will be tasked with the challenge of supporting and boosting under-performing schools and colleges in their area.
Campaigns to stop bullying take place throughout the region this week Credit: ITV Tyne Tees
National anti-bullying week starts today. The campaign is aimed at offering support to victims of bullying and also provide advice on how to stamp the problem out within schools. It's hoped the week will raise awareness of the problem across the region.
Head-teachers have been considering legal challenge to GCSE results Credit: PA
Head-teachers have been considering whether to mount a legal challenge over GCSE English after Ofqual said results would not be regraded.
The regulator admitted grade boundaries were higher in June than they were in January, but insisted it would be "inappropriate" to reconsider either of them.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said it was not "acceptable or practicable" to make the students resit.
It warned it could still begin a legal challenge against grade boundary changes on the grounds that it had disadvantaged certain groups of students.
North East union representatives are returning to the region after voting in favour of balloting on a school strike, if the Government moves ahead with its regional pay plans.
Gateshead teacher Tony Dowling told North East Tonight that he thought 'mass resistance on the streets' was a good option.
