Deferring child?

[Rowaroundoundle]

We have a 3 year old (turns 4 in July) who should be starting reception in September. He is currently in a school nursery and have applied for him to start reception at the same school but we are now considering deferring him from starting reception. We've been trying to find out the process before contacting the school and would welcome any insight. Some specific questions are

1. By when would we have to inform that we would like to defer? Can we decide just before summer?

1. Can they stay in nursery an extra year... Would they get the 30 hours free?

1. Who would we need to inform... Would it be the school or the LA (it is a religious school that does its own admissions).

Any pointers would be very welcomed.

Thanks

Every authority is different. You'll need to check the admissions process for your school / council region. Some are easier than others BUT every summer born (April-August) has the right to be deferred.

There's also a Facebook group called Flexible Admissions for Summer Borns that are a huge font of knowledge and have lots of information about the process.

DS8 was deferred (August baby). Been brilliant for him. Good luck OP!

Sorry it add: yes you still get the nursery funding

I'd make an appointment ment to see the head asap and get a feel as to whether they've gone through the process before, and what their understanding is of deferring.

Use the Facebook group to educate yourself prior to meeting, as it can be common for heads just to say, oh they'll be fine in cohort.

The admissions window will be Nov-Jan (it's just closed for Sept 2025 admissions) I'm sure from Emory we had to do something to notify the council..sorry can't remember now.

You need to school’s permission for them to start in reception in Sept 2026 rather than yr1 so you need to get them on side. Waiting until the last minute runs the risk of annoying the school because the reception place of 2025 your child has been allocated may not be filled at this point losing the school money. Yes to nursery, but if you leave it until after nursery place offers have been made they may nolonger have space.

Defereing ws the right thing for us too.

Thank you so much. This has been very helpful. Really appreciate it. Will speak to the head, LA and join the group!

@Rowaroundoundle also start investigating about secondary schools. Some won't accept out of year applications, so you'd end up with a DC who went from Yr 5 into secondary.

They have to take into consideration which year group they are in and whether it is in the child's best interests to move year groups.

Yes some secondaries like grammar schools or schools with selective places do not take over-age applicants except in very limited circumstances (like when there's been a deferral for medical reasons). Something to consider about deferring if relevant to you OP (it might not be!)

Another consideration (and again this is something further in the future so hard to know if it will be relevant) - if they’re old for their year, they may have to play certain competitive sports with the year above instead of with their own year. Not a dealbreaker as it doesn’t prevent them from playing a sport they love, but it may mean they can’t do it with their closer friends.