Delaying or deferring your child’s start at primary school

There are many reasons why a parent might think about putting off the start of school for their child. Some of the most common are the child being summer born, being adopted (or previously in care) or for social and emotional reasons. Perhaps your child has special educational needs (SEN) or medical needs – or they have moved schools (or even countries) and you feel they would benefit from starting reception again. Maybe you simply want your child to enjoy another year of nursery, preschool or play before starting school at 5.

I don’t feel my child is ready to start school

Parents who are concerned about how ready their child is to start school might choose one of these three options:

• Ask the school if your child could start off in September but attending on a part-time basis.

• Ask if your child could start later in the school year – at the beginning of the spring or summer term. This is usually called ‘deferred entry’.

• Third, you could wait until the following September, starting school a whole year later instead, going into either reception or year 1. This is usually called ‘delayed entry’.

In England, children have to be in full-time education by the start of the term following their fifth birthday. This is when a child reaches ‘compulsory school age’. This means that:

• Children who turn 5 between 1 September and 31 December are required to start school by 31 December (for the spring term).

• Children who turn 5 between 1 January and 31 March are required to start school by 31 March (for the summer term).

• Children who turn 5 between 1 April and 31 August are required to start school by 31 August (for the autumn term).

If you would like your child to start school in the reception class but later in the academic year or on a part-time basis, you should follow the normal primary school application process via your local authority (LA).

Once you have received the offer of a place on National Offer Day and accepted it, you must write to the headteacher of the school to tell them you have accepted a reception place for the next academic year at their school and to state your request for a deferred or part-time start. It is your right to keep your child out of school or to take up a part-time place until they reach compulsory school age and so your request should not meet with resistance, although the exact timetable needs to be agreed with the school.

Delaying entry to primary school is a fairly unusual course of action but sometimes favoured by parents of summer born children when there is a specific educational reason for doing so. This could be due to concerns over a summer born child’s physical or emotional development, special educational needs or if the child had previously been in care.

Children who have a delayed entry to primary school have two options:

• Start in year 1 among the cohort they would have been with in reception.

• Start in reception outside their normal age group, generally alongside children who are a year younger.

Starting in year 1

Because children with a birthday on or between 1 April and 31 August do not reach compulsory school age until the September following their fifth birthday, delaying school entry by a full 12 months is a possibility. In this case, a child would start school as a year 1 pupil. In order to do this, parents would need to apply for a year 1 school place for the September following their child’s fifth birthday, by making an ‘in-year application’. This process will be explained on your LA’s website.

Starting reception a year later

Delaying entry to primary school by a year and starting in reception is a bit more complicated although parents often prefer this option. They do not have a right to have their child educated outside their normal year group but they are entitled to request it.

Parents who believe their summer-born child should be held back are advised to start by talking to their child’s nursery or preschool provider, as well as the headteacher of the school where they are hoping to gain a place and (where relevant) any other relevant professionals (eg speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, educational psychologist).

The nursery or preschool provider can tell you how they will help prepare your child for school; the school can tell you how they’d help settle and support your child; and professionals can tell you whether they think your child is school-ready. 

If, after these meetings, you still feel that delaying school until the following year is the best route for your child, you apply to your school’s admission authority for a school place as if your child were going to start school at age 4 – but with an additional ‘application to delay entry’.

Because the school’s admission authority base their decision on your child’s best interests (taking into account their academic, social, and emotional development), it can help to back up your request with a statement about your reasons, together with any supporting documents from relevant professionals.

Parents who have gone through this process often describe a postcode lottery, as some local authorities and admissions authorities (including certain schools and academy trusts) are more likely than others to approve applications for a delayed entry to reception.

You will find out if your request is accepted on National Offer Day in mid-April.

Then you can either start your child at the normal start date or refuse the place, skip the reception year and re-apply the following year.

You cannot appeal the decision. But you can make a formal complaint to the admissions authority, which may or may not come to anything.