Summer-born children can start Reception a year later

PARENTS of summer-born children will be given the option of delaying when their youngsters start Reception, the schools minister has said.

The Government intends to change the admissions code so that children born between April 1 and Aug 31 are able to start school a year later, with the option of joining either a Reception or a Year One class.

Nick Gibb’s comments came after the results of an international literacy test published yesterday which showed that by the time children are nine or 10, September-born children outperform their August-born classmates in literacy and reading.

Earlier research has shown children born in August are 50per cent more likely to be labelled as having “special needs” than others in their cohort.

“We are concerned about summerborn children,” Mr Gibb said. “I do accept there is a link between the month that your child is born and academic results, particularly in the early years of primary school, and that’s why we want to give parents that option.

“So we are looking now at the impact of changing the admissions code and when the opportunity arises, we will seek to change the admissions code to give parents more discretion.”

Children usually start school in the September after they turn four, but parents of children born between April 1 and Aug 31 can ask to delay entry to Reception for a year. But schools and councils often say summer-born pupils must go straight into Year One and miss out on the Reception year.