Deferring by an entire year - what were your experiences?

[xkr]

Hello,

Our son was born early July 2020 and is due to start reception in September this year. I've seen some info about how the month you were born can have a pretty significant impact on outcomes later in life. We're in the process of applying for primary schools and this was mentioned, and it's something we're giving some consideration to... as I can see it the main positives could be:

• he gets an extra year doing fun things as a child
• will likely find school much easier academically
• will likely find sports much easier
• likely higher chance of getting into grammar school if he wants to
• emotionally & physically will be more ready for school
• will potentially have an extra year of education by the time he does his GCSEs etc
• will be more mature and more ready to learn
• 1 year closer in school age to his one year old brother
• could help him socially

And the negatives could be:

• he gets one less year as an adult (one less year earning before retirement?)
• my friends think he might get teased/bullied
• we probably won't get any nursery funding this year, and possibly not even a place
• might feel awkward/out of place to be the oldest and deferred
• could hinder him socially

I don't think it's clear cut, and there are loads of things I've no doubt overlooked... was wondering if anyone had any thoughts please? Thank you :)

dd is an end of July baby. DS was an end of September baby. they are a school year apart. dd in reception currently and ds year 1.

we thought about delaying dd's start until this september, however we were told by our LEA that whilst we could do this, she would have to start in with her cohort. so she'd start in year 1 totally missing out on reception.

it think for her, it helped being in the school nursery, and massively helped that ds is in the year above her. but she is doing really well. she's happy and confident in school.

You won't get the same place held for a year, you reapply in January 2025 and need agreement from the head to be accepted out of year. Apply now and you can choose to start him later in the academic year should you feel he is not ready in September. Reception is play based though, so it may benefit him to start in September and do the whole year.

I was looking at boarding options at FE colleges with my older DC recently and realised a deferred child wouldn’t be able to board in their second year, as they have to be 18 or under (presumably for safeguarding reasons). Quite niche but a possible stumbling block for some in the future.

When you did your school visits, which school did you pick and how receptive were they to deferral? How about your backup? I've heard some schools allow you to defer but then your child goes straight into yr1.

It is interesting reading on opinions on it here 😊

There is a huge evidence base that summer born children perform less well in all areas including academic attainment but (much more importantly for me) their mental health, happiness at school, friendships etc. Surely that trumps any downsides?

Other people not deferring their children shouldn't be a factor, every parent must do what's right for their child.

I’m conflicted on this. I was an august baby and never struggled at school, in fact I did really well and I think probably being ‘pushed’ in the sense that I was quite young for my year did wonders for me. So when it came to my august born DC1 I didn’t defer them even though they were only 4 years and ten days old when they started reception. I thought oh they’re bright, they will cope. Looking back, I’m not sure it was the right call. DC doing fine academically for the most part but has found reading hard and struggles to keep up with friends in year two which makes them lose confidence. They also say they hate being the youngest. It’s just annoying because if we’d deferred DC1 would prob be a top performer and the oldest and probably more confident as a result. Then again I have heard of deferrals causing issues at secondary application stage so that would be something I’d want to research thoroughly if I was considering it again. Luckily my others are born mid school year! Good luck op

Surely the key thing is that every child is different?

We have a late July daughter.

She wasn't even on the reading scale in reception when some peers were already on chapter books.

And you know what? That gave her a fire in her belly that her September born older brother never had. Her work ethic has been amazing from day one.

Fast forward to year 13 and she's absolutely smashing it - all 9s at GCSE and predicted 3A* for A level. Plays sport for school and club. Her only regrets are that she'll turn 18 after all her friends so she's later in the year learning to drive and being able to reliquish her fake ID (!)

IMO you should just be thinking about the maturity of your own dc rather than looking at trends and patterns. Deferring a child who would have been fine just doesn't make sense.

That was the process in our LA. I think we were supposed to include a letter to the governors stating that we might defer him (at the time of application, DS wasn't reliably potty trained which was one of our concerns) but we didn't have to make the deferral decision until we accepted the place in the Spring. That was one of the reasons that we were able to make the decision in conjunction with the school once they'd had a chance to interact with DS and he'd had a chance to explore the school and his classroom and the type of activities he would do (which all confirmed to us that he was ready to start).

The retirement thing is true to some extent. I skipped two years of school and so did my DH. So basically we were two years 'ahead' from a career/earning potential. In the scheme of life it might not matter, but equally we have both have had several career breaks which many people don't feel they can do.

It will depend on your child.
My DS is an early autumn born child and was super bored for his last year at nursery. All the children he played well with (typically a few months older than him) left to go to school and he struggled as the other children seemed much younger than him. He was academically more advanced than them too (he could read / tell the time etc). If he was a few days older, he could've started school and no way would he have benefited from deferring for a year. By the time he started school at very almost 5, he'd lost his spark for learning as he'd found his last year at nursery just too slow.
On the other hand, DNiece started school just at 4 years and 1 week old. She'd only recently potty trained reliably, struggled with self care such as dressing and opening her lunchbox etc., found it tiring to be at school all day. This was quite a few years ago before deferring the reception year was an option but I think she'd have benefited hugely from another year at home / in nursery.

I really wish the deferral option had been available for my prem August born twins. (Now adults) They struggled throughout school - and it was noticeable that the children struggling at GCSE were the same ones who were struggling at primary.
They just weren't ready for the structure and demands at school and never really caught up.
One managed to repeat GCSE year at college and get BTec qualifiations to get to university and one did an IT apprenticeship so it did work out in the end but it was more stressful and difficult for them than it needed to be.

You'll have the place allocated removed when you apply for deferral and if it's agreed.

@xkr

I think you need to apply today even if you’re going to go for a deferral. I don’t think applying for a deferral means you can put off applying until March. But speak to the school and/or the LA. You can always withdraw the application - just don’t miss the deadline.

The point I haven't seen mentioned is that, given education is funded until 19, there can be other reasons why that extra year is needed. If you don't get the right GCSEs to move into year 12, you need that extra year to presit and pass so you can start the level 3 courses. And in every sixth form cohort there are a few year 12s who are either very unwell, or who completely tank the year for whatever reason, who can re-start their A levels by commencing Year 12 again. This will not be possible if the student's 'spare year' has already been spent.

Think hard about blowing that safety net year right at the start of their school life.

Yes this is what I did. Applied for a place in usual
cohort, applied for the deferral and then withdrew the application. You might want to check when they want you to withdraw it by, but memory is it is fairly late, so you could get approval and then decide for definite later in the year.

Two late summer born children - deferred one and not the other! Every child is different. My son really needed an extra year in nursery to grow up, and it's partly emotional maturity rather than academic attainment that I think you get from the year
My daughter just was ready and is thriving.
No issues with sport or bullying.
It's good for those who need it

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned but there's a fantastic group on Facebook called 'Flexible school admissions for summerborns'. It's the font of all knowledge on this subject!

I'd apply for school today and then you have ages to sort out deferring your child and getting approval.

Def not too late to decide. I think most LAs you can apply as normal, then decline the place if you decide to definitely defer and reapply next year.

The data definitely suggests autumn borns do better academically, sports wise and emotionally than summer borns, esp late summer born boys. We deferred both dc, as I feel just turned 4 is too young to start school, and it would benefit them personally to start at 5. I think it was def the right decision for dc1, who has various struggles. I think dc2 would have been fine in his usual year, but suspect he's more confident as a result of being one of the oldest.

I really wrestled with the decision , and do worry slightly about issues as they grow- transfer to secondary, feeling self conscious etc, but no regrets as yet.

Pp saying they'll be annoyed in future that they miss a year of adulthood - i can't see any basis for this. The social advantages in adolescence of not being last to drive/ be able to drink etc are clear. They'll also have a bit more maturity to navigate life changing decisions at that age. I can't see disadvantages on that score.

Deferring and delaying are two different processes. Things to consider

Deferring can be done ad hoc. This is the parent's decision and you just keep the school informed once a place is accepted. No school agreement is needed but you must start in that year.
Delaying needs school agreement and consideration of the Headteachers and governors or admissions committee depending on the structure of each school you want. Even if the school agrees you have to reapply the next year and hope to get a place. Delaying does not come with any guarantee of any place. It also only applies to the school or schools that agree with your request.

If you do not get an offer at the school you requested to delay you may be offered another school that has not agreed to delay. You might then go directly into year 1 or try to appeal at one of your requested schools to delay.

Having a conversation with the desired school is always recommended to see what they can offer in Reception and if there are other options like part-time attendance, additional skills, adapted provision, pastoral and nurture provision they can offer. If they have a nursery it is not unusual for children to move between classes to build on what they need. Just as able children join other classes and groups for maths or other. Children who need pastoral support to build on confidence and independence skills may go into groups to work on these skills.

The first question you ask for delayed applications is whether they have visited the school and had a conversation about the child's needs and what skills the school has.

A v quick google gives a good starting point: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b29e5ed915d3ed9062971/DFE-RR017.pdf

‘August children were less likely to be confident in their academic abilities than their September peers and twice as likely at seven to report that they have been bullied’

Ellen Greaves, one of the authors, said the government "should be concerned about the wider educational experience of summer-born children, who appear to be at a disadvantage in terms of their wellbeing as well as their test scores".

also:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2006/may/suicide-risk-linked-month-birth-study#:~:text=%22Our%20results%20support%20the%20hypotheses,Liverpool%20University%2C%20northwest%20England%2C%20said

The flexible admissions for summer borns group on facebook will have all the reports and data though if you want to join that :)

Not true - we didn’t apply until after we’d got our offer of a reception place; it’s only apparent to parents sometimes as the school start looms that it’s not in their child’s best interests - all you’d need to do is write to get permission from the admissions authorities and then reject your school place offer and reapply next year

This is rather brutal! Did you mean it to be?

take a step back and look at all the adults you know, are all the summer borns living in the gutter? Probably not. A lot of it comes down to parenting and the opportunities.

I’m know a lot of summer borns who have very successful careers and Autumn borns who have mediocre careers. Comes down to the individual and support network.

your message is so doom and gloom and have a lot of confirmation bias yourself.

I am in fact an August Born and I am successful Corporate Lawyer.

Someone previously said that summer born children are way more likely to suffer with their mental health, bullying etc anyway, so that’s also a potential positive for deferring - though I couldn’t find much on Google to back that up!

As a lawyer I’m surprised you’re not more interested in the evidence.

I don’t think one needs to be doom and gloom if their child is a summer born, and of course there are many factors that will influence outcomes but the data is pretty compelling when it comes to the disadvantages they face and these do follow them throughout school.

That doesn’t mean you can’t be born in august and go on to be a happy, successful adult! Extra points if you are both a corporate lawyer and happy 😂 but jokes aside, statistically you are less likely to get into a Russell group Uni etc. It doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but it’s ok to acknowledge the disadvantages.

Im not being alarmist or exaggerating, I am simply referring to the findings in the studies ( a quick google will find them so I’m surprised people are finding it hard). I notice that pointing to the disadvantages can be triggering for people and make them feel anxious or defensive; I get it, I really do.

ultimately if you’ve got parents who love you and are invested enough to be worrying about your well being to this extent, you’re probably going to be ok regardless of when you start but if the option exists to correct a disadvantage - why not take it ?

My July born 11 year old started in Reception at CSA. Best decision we ever made. Academically he is in line with his peers, but would be behind if he was with his chronological year group. We haven't encountered any problems at all and he's been given the go ahead to stay in his year group for high school and beyond. Die to his EHCP he already has a confirmed place. Its been completely smooth sailing for us luckily.