Occasionally, first/primary schools are asked by parents if they can defer entry of their child into Reception to the following year. Deferral relates to children who are ‘summer born’ (between 1 April and 31 August) where a parent has the legal right to delay their child’s entry into school until the child reaches compulsory school age, i.e. the September after they turn 5. However, if the parent defers entry, then the school to which the parent applies for a place does not have to agree that the child can start in Reception class at the time they start school, and may decide to educate in Year 1. If the school does agree to the child starting in Reception, then they have been ‘Offset’ and they go onto the school roll in that year group.
Parents requiring to defer entry to Reception of their summer born child are asked to complete this form available on the NCC website Deferral-Offset-Form-vers-Aug-2024-NEW.docx. The Council does not recommend that children with an EHCP defer entry to school. Please contact School Admissions schooladmissions@northumberland.gov.uk if you have any queries relating to deferral requests. Non-statutory Guidance for admissions authorities from DfE is also available at Guidance on handling admission requests for summer-born children – GOV.UK.
