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Cambridgeshire Reception delay and deferral

Summer Born Children and Delaying Admission to Reception

Cambridgeshire County Council have conducted a review of current practice relating to summer born children and as an outcome we have updated our offer and referral criteria. These changes align with Government guidance as well as those of other local authorities.

Summer born children starting school: advice for parents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Making a request for admission out of the normal age group - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Children born from 1 April to 31 August – known as summer born children – do not need to start school until the September after their fifth birthday, a year after they could first have started school. This is when summer born children reach  compulsory school age. The following advice is to help you decide what would be best for your summer born child.

Guidance does not apply to children with education, health, and care (EHC) plans. If your child has an EHC plan or awaiting a decision and you wish them to start school in reception (not year 1) when they are 5, you should discuss this with your linked SEN caseworker.

It is not appropriate for a delay to be requested for children with SEN needs as a way of providing an extended time for an EHCP to be progressed and this also applies to children with medical needs. Delaying should only be ‘exceptional.’

Parents can request for a child who is not summer born to be educated outside of their normal age group, but they will not be able to rely on the summer born admission guidance as well as the summer born referral process as these will not apply to their situation.

In this circumstance to ensure robust and collaborative decision-making, the education provider/s and lead professionals along with parents should arrange a meeting. The meeting would allow for full consideration of the case and (only if in exceptional circumstance a placement outside the normal age group is agreed) to allow for adequate planning and preparation for their needs to be met in the allocated year group.

Summer Born Children (April-August)

If your child was born between 1 April and 31 August, then it is usual for them to start school in the September following their 4th birthday.

However, you can have them attend part-time or postpone their start until later in the year or for a full year until the September following their 5th birthday. If you are considering delaying when your child starts Reception, then you have several options available to you and it is important that you consider these carefully before deciding whether to delay admission.

In all cases you should first apply for a school place in your child's normal age group within the expected normal admissions round.

After this you can decide whether to accept the place offered or whether to delay admission.

Summer born children are allowed to accept an offer of a school place but then postpone their start in Reception until later in the year. This is called 'deferring' your child's admission to primary school. The latest you are able to postpone their start is April.

If you would like to do this:

  1. Apply for a school place during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January before their 4th birthday.
  2. Accept a school place offered to you.
  3. Speak to the school about your wish to defer your child's start to later in the year. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting later in the year.
  4. The school will hold your place during the Autumn and Spring terms of your child's Reception year, depending on how long you decide to defer.
  5. Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Summer Term in April. They can then attend school either full-time or part-time for the rest of the year.

Summer born children are allowed to attend school part-time during the whole of their first year. This means that your child can start attending school gradually. As long as your child starts school by April in their Reception year then they are allowed to attend part-time, either for all of the year or for part of it.

If you would like to do this:

  1. Apply for a school place during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January before their 4th birthday.
  2. Accept a school place offered to you.
  3. Speak to the school about your child attending part-time. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages, and what might be the best schedule for your child.
  4. From the September after your child's 4th birthday, they can either attend school part-time, or you can postpone their start date until the start of the Summer Term of their Reception year.
  5. Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Summer Term in April.
  6. Your child can attend part time during the summer term as well, but they must attend school.

If you are considering delaying your child's admission by a full year, then you will need to request permission for them to start Reception a year later than their normal age group. This is a big decision and is something you should think about carefully as it usually means that your child will remain in a lower year group for the rest of their education.

It is important to remember that if you delay by a year then you will not keep the school place originally offered to your child. This offer will be removed and the following year you must re-apply for a school place alongside all other applicants, and they oversubscription criteria will apply if there are more applications than places available at the school. Each year a number of families who decide to delay admission discover that they no longer qualify for a place at their preferred school because the cut-off distance has changed, and they now live too far away. You should keep this in mind while making your decision about whether to delay admission.

If you are a Cambridgeshire resident or applying for a Cambridgeshire school, and you would like to do this:

  1. Apply for a school place in your child's normal age group, during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January before their 4th birthday.

  1. At the same time as applying for a school place complete the ‘Summer Born Request to delay’’ online form link below. Accept a school place offered to you.

    https://cambridgeshire-self.achieveservice.com/service/Summer_born_request_to_delay

  2. Meet with the headteacher of all the preference schools, to discuss the options available. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting school a year late.
  3. If you would like to apply for a delay and you have names any of the schools below, please make a request to delay directly with the school.

Please note that if you plan to apply for schools outside Cambridgeshire you will need to discuss their procedures with them directly.

If your child is being considered for an EHCP or you have an existing EHCP, you must notify your case worker as any decision for a delayed start to reception, will affect the assessment process/ existing EHCP.

Others Factors to consider

There are other factors that you need to be aware of relating to the decision to allow your child to have a delayed entry into Reception:

  • It may affect your child’s ability to take part in sporting/social activities with classmates as many organisations base their age categories around standard school year groups.
  • Your child will be eligible to leave school on the last Friday in June of the academic year in which he/she turns 16, even if this is at the end of Year 10 rather than Year 11 and may choose to do so.
  • If your child starts school prior to compulsory school age he/she can receive help from a staggered start, while starting when they are already five years old means they have to attend full-time from the very start.
  • If your child needs to change school (for example, if you move house or when they transfer to the next stage of their education) there is no guarantee that the admission authority will continue the arrangement to work outside of the normal year group.
  • If your child is being considered for an EHCP, you must notify the case worker assigned to your child. Any decision on a delayed start to Reception will form part of the assessment and it is normally only in extreme cases that the SEND will support a child being educated outside of their chronological age group, as all schools should be able to manage your child’s needs with appropriate support within the normal age group.
  • Issues may appear later, associated with the funding entitlement of working outside their chronological year group and these may impact on the provision and/or a future school/college’s willingness/ability to maintain the pupil’s placement out of year. Post 16 funding is given according to age, not the year group, a child is being educated in. This may mean that your child will only get funding for two years rather than three, which may impact on the courses available to them.

If your child was born between 1 September and 31 December, then you must apply for a school place during the winter that they turn 4 years old.

Your child would usually be expected to start school in the September following their 4th birthday, however you can postpone their start or have them attend part-time during the Autumn term. This is called 'deferring' your child's admission to primary school. The latest you are able to postpone their start is January after their 5th birthday.

If you would like to do this:

  1. Apply for a school place during the winter of your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January after their 4th birthday.
  2. Accept a school place offered to you.
  3. Speak to the school about your wish to defer your child's start to later in the year. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting later in the year.
  4. If you want your child to attend part-time, then you should discuss with the school what might be the best schedule for your child.
  5. The school will hold your place during the Autumn term of your child's Reception year, depending on how long you decide to defer.
  6. Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Spring Term in January after their 5th birthday.

If your child was born between 1 January and 31 March, then you must apply for a school place during the winter before their 4th birthday.

Your child would usually be expected to start school in the September following their 4th birthday, however you can postpone their start or have them attend part-time during the Autumn and Spring terms. This is called 'deferring' your child's admission to primary school. The latest you are able to postpone their start is April after their 5th birthday.

If you would like to do this:

  1. Apply for a school place during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January.
  2. Accept a school place offered to you.
  3. Speak to the school about your wish to defer your child's start to later in the year. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting later in the year.
  4. If you want your child to attend part-time, then you should discuss with the school what might be the best schedule for your child.
  5. The school will hold your place during the Autumn and Spring term of your child's Reception year, depending on how long you decide to defer.
  6. Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Summer Term in April after their 5th birthday.