Summer-born children will not have right to delay school

PARENTS of summer-born children will not get the right to delay when their child joins reception after the Government reneged on its pledge.

Ministers have been promising for seven years to change the school admission code so parents of children born between April 1 and Aug31 have the option of their child joining reception at the age of five.

Under the existing system parents can apply to a local authority or school to request a delayed start, which campaigners say has resulted in a “postcode lottery”.

The promise to change the code in 2015 followed a long campaign by parents concerned about studies showing children with summer birthdays face an academic disadvantage, are more likely to be victimised by bullies and have a lower chance of entry to a high-performing university.

Baroness Barran, minister for the schools system, issued guidance this week saying the Government no longer intends to continue to pursue legislation.

She said the latest government research suggested that most applications for deferred school entry are granted. A Department for Education survey of 105 local authorities found that 88 per cent of requests in the 201920 academic year were granted.

“I am reassured that good progress has been made on this issue and that these improvements suggest the system is now working well,” she said, adding that the position would be kept “under review”.

However, Rosie Dutton, 37, who led the Summer Born Campaign in 2015, said: “It’s an absolute travesty.”

She said the Government’s research was based on a minority of admissions authorities and did not align with the experiences in the campaign group of almost 19,000 parents.

Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet, said the Government’s position was “disappointing”. “While some four year olds might be raring to go – and their parents looking forward to the structure of a school routine – some children of the same age may not be quite ready,” she said.

The decision means parents whose child starts reception aged five have to apply again for them to be educated out of their normal year group in secondary school, creating uncertainty for families. Lady Barran reminded admission authorities that children who started reception a year late should stay outside their normal year group in secondary school unless there are “sound educational reasons to do otherwise”.