Delayed entry
Parents can request that their child attends school part-time until they reach compulsory school age, or that the date their child is admitted to school is delayed until later in the same academic year.
Where parents wish to apply for a deferral until later in the same academic year then they should firstly discuss the request with the headteacher of the requested or allocated school, who will be responsible for arranging the admission date of the child.
Parents should be reminded that they are not able to delay the admission of their child beyond the academic year for which the application was determined.
Deferred admission beyond the traditional year of entry
This could relate to summer-born children - please view the DfE guidance available.
It is unlawful for any admitting authority to have a blanket policy which says that summer born children who start school in the September after their fifth birthday will be admitted to year 1. Instead parents have a right to express a preference for the year to which their child will be admitted and the admitting authority must consider such requests on the basis of the circumstances of each individual case.
Accordingly, parents who choose not to send their child to school until they have reached compulsory school age, have the right to apply for admission into Reception, even though this would ordinarily mean admission into year 1.
A space cannot be kept available in the correct chronological age group for a year if the parent chooses not to admit the child at the normal age of entry.
Any such application will need to be made in line with the closing date for Reception admissions for the appropriate year (usually 15 January preceding admission), supported by information that outlines why the child should not be admitted into year 1, alongside children within the correct chronological year group.
For community and voluntary controlled schools the request for deferred entry will be considered by the local authority, which is the admitting authority, in conjunction with the headteacher at the preferred school.
For academies, foundation or trust and voluntary aided schools the decision will need to be made by the relevant admission authority i.e. the academy trust or governing body.
Early admission or delayed transfer to school
Parents wishing to apply for their child’s early admission to school i.e. admission in advance of reaching the compulsory school age, will need to make an application with supportive evidence as to why an exception should be made in the case of their child. In the case of community or voluntary controlled schools, only in very exceptional circumstances will applications for admission earlier than the normal age of entry be agreed by the local authority.
The supporting information must outline reasons as to why it is considered that the child is 'gifted or talented' and why it is that being taught within the existing cohort or setting would be disadvantageous. There is a general expectancy that the curriculum provided within the year group should be flexible enough to cater for those pupils who are of higher ability/more advanced.
Where early admission is requested to a community or voluntary controlled school, the application should be sent to the School Admissions and Transport Service, where it will then be considered by the local authority, which is the admitting authority, in conjunction with the headteacher at the preferred school.
For academies, foundation/trust and voluntary aided schools the decision will need to be made by the relevant admission authority i.e. the academy trust or governing body.
Where parents wish their child to remain at their present school for a further year rather than transfer to the next phase of their education then they will need to make an application to the headteacher via the local authority.