Delayed and deferred entry to school

Your child will usually start full-time in a reception class in the September after their fourth birthday.

Compulsory school age

Compulsory school age is the start of the first school term after your child's fifth birthday, this means they must be receiving full-time education by the start of the term following their fifth birthday.

• Autumn born children: children born between 1 September and 31 December reach compulsory school age on 31 December and must be receiving full-time education at the start of the spring term (in January after the Christmas holidays).
• Spring born children: children born between 1 January and 31 March reach compulsory school age on 31 March and must be receiving full-time education by the start of the summer term (in March or April, after the Easter holidays).
• Summer born children: children born between 1 April to 31 August reach compulsory school age on 1 September and must be receiving full-time education by the start of the autumn term (they are not required to start school until a full school year after the point at which they could first have been admitted).

Admission outside of normal age group

Delayed entry is not a statutory right, but you do have the right to request a delayed entry for your child.

Before deciding to delay your child's entry to school, we would recommend you visit the schools you are thinking of applying to.  

If you believe your child should be educated in a different year group, you must include information with your application explaining why it is in your child's best interests to be admitted outside of their normal age group.

If the delayed entry is agreed, it is up to the Head Teacher as to which year group your child will be taught in throughout the school. This will be done in consultation with you.

Please note that one admission authority cannot be required to honour a decision made by another admission authority on admission out of the normal age group. Therefore, you should consider whether to request admission out of the usual year group at all your preference schools, rather than just your first preference school.

Delayed entry for summer born children (dates of birth between 1 April and 31 August)

If your child was born between 1 April to 31 August, you can request to delay entry to school by a year. This means your child will not enter with their normal age group - instead they start Reception year in the September following their fifth birthday (this is a year later than their normal age group).

You must still apply for a school place for your child's normal age group

When you apply for a school place for your child's normal age group, you will be able to request for admission outside of the normal age group at the same time. This makes sure you receive a response to your request before primary school places are offered.

If your request for delayed entry is agreed

If your request for delayed entry is agreed you must make a new application as part of the main admissions round the following year. This request must be made on a paper application form.

If your request for delayed entry is not agreed

If your request for delayed entry is not agreed, you must decide whether to accept the offer of a place for the normal age group, or to refuse it and make an in-year application for admission to Year 1 for the September following your child's fifth birthday.

You cannot request a delayed entry once your child has started school

Once your child has started school, you cannot request a delayed entry. The school will decide which is the most appropriate year group or class for your child to be educated in.

What happens when your child transfers to junior or secondary school

If your child has been educated out of the normal age group, you may again request admission outside of the normal age group when they transfer to junior or secondary school. It will be for the admission authority of that school to decide whether to admit the child outside of their normal age group. A decision will be made based on the circumstances of each case and will be in your child's best interests. It will take into account the age group your child has been educated in up to that point. 

Children are assessed when they reach the end of each key stage, not when they reach a particular age. There are no age requirements as to when children must take their GCSEs or other assessments.