Guide to delaying a school start date

The majority of children start school (full-time) in the September that follows their fourth birthday. However, in some cases parents believe that starting part-time or starting later in the school year would be more appropriate for their child. There are a number of options to consider and sources of support and information.

This guidance aims to provide information to help you with this decision. It is based on the Government’s school admissions code and the Buckinghamshire guidance on pupils being educated in a year group one year below their chronological age.

You may also wish to consult:

• your child’s early years or childcare provider
• the headteacher at the school where your child has been allocated a place or where you're hoping to secure a place
• the Family Information Service

If your child has Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), you may also wish to consult:

• your child’s SEN Coordinator (SENCO)
• the SENCO at the school where your child has been allocated a place or where you're hoping to secure a place
• other professionals supporting your child for example a paediatrician, educational psychologist, speech or language therapist
• Buckinghamshire Local Offer
• Buckinghamshire SEND IAS Service (formerly known as Parent Partnership).

It is important to consider:

• schools are committed to ensuring that the reception class meets every child’s needs. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum is a flexible and responsive play-based curriculum which supports this. This curriculum must be followed in all Ofsted-registered pre-school and reception classes
• individual children’s needs will usually be met through high quality teaching and, if necessary, special educational needs provision. This means that most children will be well-supported in their age-appropriate reception class
• the long term impact of the decision as your child moves through their schooling

All children are entitled to start school full-time in the September that follows their fourth birthday. By law, children have to be in full-time education by the start of the term following their fifth birthday – when they reach ‘compulsory school age’.

If you don’t want your child to start school full-time in the September that follows their fourth birthday, there are some other options available:

Your child may:

• miss out on a range of reception class activities intended to help children to settle in
• join an already-established year group at a later time than most other children. Social groups and friendships may already be taking shape before your child joins the school
• miss out on a play-based curriculum in a school setting
• have less time to develop physical stamina for the school day and understanding of acceptable behaviour compared to other children

If you decide later in the year that your child is ready for school then you should speak to the headteacher to discuss a start date and inform your early years provider of your decision.

Delayed entry to school is where a parent holds back their child from joining the correct year group for their age so that they start school a year later than they are due to, in the reception class. This can only be agreed by the admission authority for the school. This decision would usually be made in consultation with the Local Authority and other professionals.

Factors the admission authority will take into account before agreeing to delayed entry to school:

• the child shows a significant delay and little progress in their personal and emotional development and social skills appropriate for a younger peer group
• the child shows significant delay and little progress in intellectual development/educational skills across the subject areas, to an extent that it is not reasonable to expect curriculum differentiation within their correct year group to be successful
• the child’s physical maturity is unlikely in the future to make them developmentally different from their proposed peer group in such a way as to impact negatively on their self-esteem/self-awareness
• there is a clear understanding about why the child’s needs will be met more effectively out of their chronological year group than would be possible within
• the parents, the school and all professionals involved agree that this is the best provision for the child

If the admission authority for the school agrees that your child should have delayed entry to reception, you will be asked to sign a document which describes what was discussed, what you were advised and indicates your agreement to the final decision.

While you're considering delayed entry, you're still advised to submit an application for a school place for the September following your child’s fourth birthday. You can always withdraw your application or decline the offer of a reception place if it is agreed that your child should be held back a year.

Deferred or part-time entry offers flexibility for children who aren’t quite ready to start school or need a phased entry to give them time to settle in – have you considered all of these options which might be good alternatives to delayed entry?

Your child will be in a different year group from the one that they are supposed to be in – what might be the long-term impacts of this? Experience tells us that this can be an issue as your child matures and recognises he is older than anyone else in the year group.

Delaying entry into reception will usually involve an extra year with an early years provider which may not be full-time but your child may benefit from more co-ordinated educational input as well as the opportunity to play. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum in a reception class is able to provide this.

As the law currently stands , when your child transfers to junior or secondary school, the admission authority for that school will make the decision on whether or not to allow them to continue out of their chronological year group – it may be prudent to ‘rehearse’ this conversation with them before making your decision.

If you think your child has a Special Educational Need you need to be aware that by deciding to delay your child’s entrance into school we do not see this as an educational intervention or strategy to support your child special educational need in its own right.

Once you’ve been allocated a school place, speak to the headteacher as soon as possible to request part-time admission.

You will still need to apply for a school place as if for September entry but this place will be held open for you until the January or April if you request it. Once you’ve been allocated a place you will need to speak to the headteacher to arrange the deferred admission.

You will need to apply/reapply for a place in year one using the admissions procedure which the School Admissions Team can advise you about.

You should speak to the headteacher at your preferred school, your early years provider and any other professionals involved and then complete and return an ‘Out of year Placement Form’.