Deferring or delaying entry to reception year
All children have the right to start school in the autumn term following their fourth birthday (the normal admission point). However, they do not legally have to start school until the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday (statutory school age).
Deferred admission
Children are normally admitted to school in the September following their fourth birthday, which is at the start of the reception year. However, they do not have to start school until they reach statutory school age, which is the term after their fifth birthday.
| Birthday between | Term in which child is statutory school age (and therefore needs to be attending school full time) |
|---|---|
| 1 September 2021 to 31 December 2021 | Spring 2027 (January) reception year – spring term |
| 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022 | Summer 2027 (April) reception year – summer term |
| 1 April 2022 to 31 August 2022 | Autumn 2027 (September) year 1 – autumn term |
Even if you want to defer the school place, you must still apply at the normal time of admission. To defer your child’s place until they are of statutory school age, please put this in writing to the head teacher once a place has been offered.
If the place offered to a child born between 1 April and 31 August has not been taken up by the beginning of the summer term, then it will be withdrawn and offered to another child if necessary.
For parents and carers of children who are not statutory school age until the summer term and choose to start them at school in autumn 2027 (the start of year 1), you will have to make an in-year application from May half term 2026 for a year 1 place for September. Places are not reserved for this situation, and therefore you may find there is not a place available for your child at your preferred school.
Delayed admission for summer-born children
Parents and carers of children who were born between 1 April to 31 August (also known as summer-born) can request that their child is admitted to reception a year later. A delayed admissions form must be completed and returned to us, together with your starting school application before the on-time application deadline of 15 January. This is to give enough time for requests to be processed prior to the National Offer Day (16 April).
Please note: This is a request, and parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular age group.
All admissions authorities must consider each request based on the individual circumstances of the case. However, there is no legal requirement to grant the request if they don’t believe it is in the child’s best interests. Similarly, the school’s admission authority is not required to honour a decision made by another admission authority on admission out of the normal age group. Where a parent has more than one preferred school in their application, the relevant admission authorities will each consider the request and make their decision individually.
There is no guarantee that all will come to the same decision. If the request is granted, the parent will need to make a paper application as part of the following year’s normal admission round and this will be processed within the normal allocation process. A place cannot be guaranteed at a particular school and, in the case of oversubscription, places are offered in accordance with the school’s oversubscription criteria. Therefore, requesting a delayed admission is to delay a child’s application for a year, rather than an offer of a school place. If a place cannot be offered at the preferred school, which has agreed to the delayed admission, as it is oversubscribed, we will advise of the next steps. This could result in your child being offered a place at another school in your child’s chronological year group.
If you have any queries regarding delayed admission, please email admissions@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.