Summary168 five‐year‐old infants from six different Social Priority Schools were examined for their ability to perform tasks of auditory synthesis (sound blending). Voiced consonants were used although doubts about this practice are widely expressed in the literature. The majority of children were either competent or not competent, only 29 being in a transitional state of moderate competence. In one school, although this pattern of discontinuity remained, the number of competent performers was considerably greater than in any other school. This suggested that factors within the school may affect the ease with which children acquire sound blending ability at this early age.