If you are a parent or carer of a child with special educational needs, trying to get advice, support and information can seem very confusing at times.

More options for parents when their children start Primary School

All children can start school from the September after their fourth birthday under proposed changes from 2011.

This move should ensure that parents of summer-born children will get greater flexibility over choosing when they start primary school.  The proposal means that all local authorities will now have a legal duty to give parents the same flexibility and choice over reception start dates.  Parents with children not ready to start school will be entitled to free full-time early learning and childcare, in maintained nursery schools and classes in private, voluntary and independent sector provision. 

The changes will come into force in February 2010 and apply to admission arrangements from September 2011 once adopted it means that parents will be able to:

• Choose when their children can start primary classes full or part-time in the September, January or April after their forth birthday.
• Choose a free full-time place in other early learning or nursery settings if parents judge their children are not ready for reception.  Meaning the child can still access the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The proposed changes to the School Admissions Code are:

The admission of children below compulsory school age.  For admission to the 2011-12 school year, and subsequent years, admission authorities for primary schools must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their forth birthday.  

When determining arrangements for primary schools the admission authority must make it clear that:

• The arrangements do not apply to those being admitted for nursery provision including nursery provision delivered in a co-located children’s centre.
• Parents of children who are admitted for nursery provision need to apply for a place at the school if they want their child to transfer to the reception class.
• Attendance at the nursery or co-located children’s centre does not guarantee admission to the school.
• Parents can request that the date their child is admitted to the school is deferred until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year.
• Parents can request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.  Admission authorities must accommodate these requests where it appears to be in the best interest of the child.

Deferred entry to primary schools

Admission authorities must allow parents of children who are admitted to the school before they are of compulsory school age to defer their child’s entry until later in the school year.

Where entry is deferred, admission authorities must hold the place for that child and not offer it to another child.

The parent would not however, be able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday, nor beyond the academic year for which the original application was accepted.  This must be made clear in the admission arrangements for the school.

DCSF 19/10/09