The Tawse2

The belt is no longer used in schools in UK, I think it was stopped in non-private schools in Scotland from August 1987.
I suppose it was possible from age 5 in Primary school although I can’t recall it being used then. I got it from age 7.
2 or 3 (or more!) tails have nothing to do with the age of the pupil. I think that a thin 2 tail such as early ones made by Philp are a lot more painful than some 3 tails. However the 3 tail ones look more fearsome. The tawses to some extent were graded more by weight with lighter ones being used on younger pupils. I bought a 3 tail McRostie from Tawse-maker via eBay last year. It is very light (60gms) and was probably used in early years of Primary school.
Maximum strokes at any one punishment was 6 but this was fairly unusual and I would say 2 was more the normal.