Delayed and Deferred Admissions Entry

Compulsory School Age is the start of the first school term after a child's fifth birthday. 

For those children starting school for the first time, we will offer all children a full-time school place from the September following their fourth birthday. 

The admission of pupils into the first year of primary education (Reception) will be processed in line with the Council’s Admission Arrangements in line with the School Admissions Code of Practice. 

The School Admissions Section will coordinate the Reception Admissions for all eligible pupils within the Redcar and Cleveland area for all primary schools/academies. Places will then be allocated for pupils to start in the September of Academic Year they turn five.  

Children must be receiving full-time education by the start of the term following their fifth birthday.

All Redcar and Cleveland Schools offer a September start for all pupils starting their Reception Primary Education.

The law

The School Admissions Code states, "Parents of summer born may choose to request a deferred primary entry and not  send their child to primary  school until the September following their fifth birthday and may also request that they are admitted out of their normal age group - to Reception rather than Year 1

Admission Authorities must make clear in their Admission Arrangements the process for requesting admission out of the normal age group". Delayed entry is not a statutory right, but parents have the right to request delayed entry.

The application and decision-making process

While most parents are happy for their child to start school in the September following their fourth birthday, they may have concerns about whether the child will be ready for school at this point. Delaying a child's entry to school is not always the best option to choose. Redcar and Cleveland Primary schools can cater for a wide range of pupil needs to support the requirements of pupils within the age range.

• Before deciding to delay a child's entry to school, we advise parents to visit the schools that they are thinking of applying for to seek advice from the headteacher.
• If they are involved with any support services and/or other professionals are involved in the care of a child, they are advised to seek guidance and advice so that they can make an informed decision. 

(The purpose of this visit is to meet with the headteacher to discuss the potential application in more detail. If this discussion has not taken place, it is unlikely that the Admissions Authority will agree the delayed entry request.)

The school will be able to explain the provision on offer to children in the reception class, how it is tailored to meet the needs of the youngest pupils and how the needs of these pupils will continue to be met as they move up through the school. They may also be able to allay any concerns raised about the child's readiness for school.

How to apply

Following the discussions with schools, if they still want to apply, they should:

• Make a school place application for the child's normal age group at the usual time (between – November and 15th January)
• Complete the application form for delayed entry to Reception. Contact the school admissions team | Redcar and Cleveland for a form. This form must also be signed by the headteacher of each preferred school to confirm that a discussion has taken place before it is submitted.
• They should also provide evidence to support the request if possible. This could be medical reports and letters from professionals involved with the child.
• Once the form and supporting evidence has been completed and returned to us, we will then consider the request.

Completed applications should be submitted by 15 January which is the deadline for on-time applications for a place in Reception the following September. Applications received by the closing date take priority over late applications.

How your Deferral Request will be considered

We will liaise with the Admissions Authority (Schools Preferences) that will make the decision about the request based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child. In reaching a decision, the Admissions Authority will consider:

• The parents view.
• Information about the child's academic, social, and emotional development
• where relevant, a child's medical history and the views of a medical professional
• whether the child may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely

As the headteacher has statutory responsibility for the internal organisation, management and control of the school their views will be taken into consideration as to obtain their professional opinion on how the pupil education provision would be best supported.

If they apply by 15 January for a delayed entry, they will be informed of the outcome of the request on 16 April. If they apply after 15 January, it may not be possible to give them an outcome by 16 April.

What happens if the application is agreed

• If the request is agreed by the admissions authority, the application for the normal age group will be withdrawn from this process.
• They must make a new application as part of the main admissions round the following year.

If the application for delayed entry is agreed but they then change their mind and want child to start in Reception they will need to apply for an in-year admission. 

This should include information as to why they think a delayed entry is no longer appropriate. In any event, if the reception year group is full in the preferred school, a place cannot be offered in-year regardless of the factors put forward as to why a delayed entry is no longer appropriate. 

Important Considerations

• Please note that the agreement with a school for a deferred entry is only binding with the specific school. Therefore, if they then decide to move the child’s school in the future via an In Year Admission, they would either apply for a place in their normal chorological year group or request an admission outside of their normal year group. If this request is not agreed, it may result in the child missing a year of their education which would not be beneficial to their learning.

What happens if your application is refused?

• If the application is refused, they then 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 one for the September following the child's fifth birthday. 

Other factors to consider.

• Once the child has been admitted to a school, it is for the headteacher to decide how best to educate them, which includes decisions on whether to move the child to a different year group. A decision to move a child to a different year group should be based on strong educational reasons and made in consultation with the parent. Unless there are good educational reasons to do otherwise, the child should continue to be educated outside of their normal year group.
• If the child has not been moved back to their chronological age group, an initial application must be made when a child is in Year 5 for admission to secondary school but requesting a delayed entry.

Secondary education

• Secondary schools are receiving increased numbers of delayed entry requests because of those summer born children whose parents requested a delayed entry to reception now being of age to transfer to secondary school.
• They should consider that the child has been educated in a different year group to that point and, unless there are sound educational reasons to do otherwise, the assumption should be that a child remains outside of their normal year group.
• The School admissions code requires admission authorities to consider these requests in the same way as the original request and decide in the best interests of the child.
• If the child has been educated out of their normal age group in primary school, and they wish for this to continue in secondary school, they must make a request to the admission authority of their preferred secondary school(s) for their child to continue to be educated outside of their normal age group.
• The application for delayed entry must be made in accordance with the child's age, not their current year group, they will need to make a request alongside an application for a secondary school place in year 5, rather than year 6. This means they will know the outcome of the decision in time to submit a request for the chronological year group if the application is refused.
• The Department for Education and the council believe it can rarely be in the best interests of a child to miss a year of school.

What happens when a delayed entry to secondary school is refused.

If the request for admission out of the normal age group at a secondary school is refused by the secondary school, they will then need to decide:

• whether to accept the offer of a place in year 7(the normal point of entry for the child’s age) in the school year following the child's 11th birthday (meaning they would progress from year 5 in primary school to year 7 in secondary school), or
• refuse that offer and make an in-year application for the child to be admitted to year 8 in the September following their 12th birthday (meaning they will progress from year 6 in Primary to year 8 in Secondary. This would mean that the pupil bypasses the year 7 academic year in Secondary). School leaving age and impact on exams and assessments.

The child will cease to be of compulsory school age on the last Friday of June in the school year they become 16.

If the child is being educated outside of their normal age group, they will reach school leaving age at the end of year 10, rather than year 11. However, they will take assessments, such as GCSEs, at the same time as the children they are being taught with.

The expectation would be that the child would continue to attend school and sit national examinations in Year 11, even though their attendance at school will no longer be required by law.

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.

If you have any questions about  your child school admission, you can contact the school admissions team by emailing SchoolsAdmissions@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk

You can also contact the team by calling 01642 837740. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday between 10am and 2pm.