Summer Born Children and Delaying Admission to Reception
Most children start school in the September after their 4th birthday. However children are not legally required to attend school until the term after their 5th birthday. If you are considering delaying when your child starts school then different options are available to you depending on when your child was born.
Children born September-December
If your child was born between 1 September and 31 December then you must apply for a school place during the winter that they turn 4 years old.
Your child would usually be expected to start school in the September following their 4th birthday, however you can postpone their start or have them attend part-time during the Autumn term. This is called 'deferring' your child's admission to primary school. The latest you are able to postpone their start is January after their 5th birthday.
If you would like to do this:
- Apply for a school place during the winter of your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January after their 4th birthday.
- Accept a school place offered to you.
- Speak to the school about your wish to defer your child's start to later in the year. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting later in the year.
- If you want your child to attend part-time then you should discuss with the school what might be the best schedule for your child.
- The school will hold your place during the Autumn term of your child's Reception year, depending on how long you decide to defer.
- Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Spring Term in January after their 5th birthday.
Children born January-March
If your child was born between 1 January and 31 March then you must apply for a school place during the winter before their 4th birthday.
Your child would usually be expected to start school in the September following their 4th birthday, however you can postpone their start or have them attend part-time during the Autumn and Spring terms. This is called 'deferring' your child's admission to primary school. The latest you are able to postpone their start is April after their 5th birthday.
If you would like to do this:
- Apply for a school place during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January.
- Accept a school place offered to you.
- Speak to the school about your wish to defer your child's start to later in the year. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting later in the year.
- If you want your child to attend part-time then you should discuss with the school what might be the best schedule for your child.
- The school will hold your place during the Autumn and Spring term of your child's Reception year, depending on how long you decide to defer.
- Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Summer Term in April after their 5th birthday.
Summer Born Children (April-August)
If your child was born between 1 April and 31 August then it is usual for them to start school in the September following their 4th birthday.
However you can have them attend part-time, or postpone their start until later in the year or for a full year until the September following their 5th birthday. If you are considering delaying when your child starts Reception then you have several options available to you and it is important that you consider these carefully before deciding whether to delay admission.
In all cases you should first apply for a school place in your child's normal age group. After this you can decide whether to accept the place offered or whether to delay admission.
- Option 1: Postpone your child's start to later in the year
- Option 2: Attending school part-time
- Option 3: Delaying admission by a year
Summer Born Option 1: Postpone your child's start to later in the year
Summer born children are allowed to accept an offer of a school place but then postpone their start in Reception until later in the year. This is called 'deferring' your child's admission to primary school. The latest you are able to postpone their start is April.
If you would like to do this:
- Apply for a school place during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January before their 4th birthday.
- Accept a school place offered to you.
- Speak to the school about your wish to defer your child's start to later in the year. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting later in the year.
- The school will hold your place during the Autumn and Spring terms of your child's Reception year, depending on how long you decide to defer.
- Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Summer Term in April. They can then attend school either full-time or part-time for the rest of the year.
Summer Born Option 2: Attending school part-time
Summer born children are allowed to attend school part-time during the whole of their first year. This means that your child can start attending school gradually. As long as your child starts school by April in their Reception year then they are allowed to attend part-time, either for all of the year or for part of it.
If you would like to do this:
- Apply for a school place during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January before their 4th birthday.
- Accept a school place offered to you.
- Speak to the school about your child attending part-time. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages, and what might be the best schedule for your child.
- From the September after your child's 4th birthday they can either attend school part-time, or you can postpone their start date until the start of the Summer Term of their Reception year.
- Your child MUST start school at least by the beginning of the Summer Term in April.
- Your child can attend part time during the Summer term as well, but they must attend school.
Summer Born Option 3: Delaying admission by a year
If you are considering delaying your child's admission by a full year then you will need to request permission for them to start Reception a year later than their normal age group. This is a big decision and is something you should think about carefully as it usually means that your child will remain in a lower year group for the rest of their education.
It is important to remember that if you delay by a year then you will not keep the school place originally offered to your child. This offer will be removed and the following year you must re-apply for a school place alongside all other applicants, and the oversubscription criteria will apply if there are more applications than places available at the school. Each year a number of families who decide to delay admission discover that they no longer qualify for a place at their preferred school because the cut-off distance has changed and they now live too far away. You should keep this in mind while making your decision about whether to delay admission.
If you are a Haringey resident or applying for a Haringey school, and you would like to do this:
- Apply for a school place in your child's normal age group, during the winter before your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January before their 4th birthday.
- Complete Haringey's Summer-Born Deferral Request Form (PDF, 48KB)
- Accept a school place offered to you.
- Meet with the headteacher of this school, and any others you plan to apply for, to discuss the options available. Make sure to discuss both the possible benefits and disadvantages of your child starting school a year late.
- If you plan to apply for Haringey community or voluntary controlled schools, Haringey LA will consider your request
- If you plan to apply for academies, free schools or voluntary aided schools, the school will consider your request
- If you plan to apply for schools outside Haringey you will need to discuss their procedures with them directly.
If your request to delay admission is agreed
- We will send you an email letting you know which Haringey schools have agreed your request to delay admission.
- After this, if you definitely want to delay admission, inform Haringey and refuse the school place currently offered to your child.
- Haringey will withdraw the offered school place.
- Apply again for a school place during the winter before your child's 5th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January before their 5th birthday.
For more information about delaying and deferring admission to school, read Haringey's Primary Admissions Booklet.