The effect of the age at primary palatal repair on the speech of 3-year old children with isolated cleft palate was assessed. The group comprised 108 consecutive children whose palates were repaired at the mean ages of 12.9 (n = 45), 18.5 (n = 18) and 22.1 months (n = 45). Signs of cleft palate speech and the degree of speech impairment were recorded. The signs sought were: hypernasality, audible nasal air emission, and misarticulations associated with velopharyngeal insufficiency. The speech impairments were subdivided into three categories by combining the signs of cleft palate speech. The results showed that children who were operated on at the age of about 12-18 months were significantly better speakers than those operated on later. Of these 46 were rated as normal or practically normal speakers (73%), compared with 10 of the children who had their repairs delayed until about 22 months (22%). As a result of the speech evaluations, it was predicted that 5 (11%), 0 and 21 (47%) children in the early, middle, and late closure groups, respectively, required secondary surgery to eliminate signs of cleft palate speech associated with velopharyngeal inadequacy. The numbers who had secondary surgery were 4, 0 and 18 in the three groups.