Has anyone had success requesting early Reception admission for a September born child?

[edelweissss]

Just wondering if anyone’s had any luck getting their child into Reception early when they were born shortly after the 31 August cutoff. We completely understand the rules, but it feels tricky when a child seems ready and just misses out by a few days. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s tried this with either state or independent schools was there any flexibility? Also, is it possible to ask for an assessment outside the normal age group, just to see if the school agrees the child is ready, without it affecting the usual application process? Any experiences or advice would be really helpful

I’ve never heard of this happening, to be honest.

They are much better staying in nursery/ pre school and being the oldest in the class, rather than being the youngest. You would be putting them at a disadvantage.

What kind of preschool education are they getting at the moment?

A private prep preschool may offer slightly more structured and formal learning, which may provide more of a challenge to a child bored by nursery.

I don’t think I’d intentionally make my child the youngest in their school year.

Being born in early Sept is seen as a huge benefit to being the oldest in the year. Why would you want to lose that advantage by making them the youngest in the year? As a parent to a young summer born child, i do not understand why you would want to do this at all.

A child born in early September will not be at a disadvantage by being in a preschool setting for another year. They follow the same curriculum as reception so won't be held back by being kept with their cohort.

I would just focus on them having a positive year, applications for next year will roll round shortly and before you know it, it will be allocations day. There really is no need to rush them.

My friend tried it last year with the LA (local state primary) and received a flat no. Her DD’s birthday is the 2nd September.

No way. I’m glad my child is the oldest in the year not the youngest.

Why would you put your child at such a disadvantage?

This. There is no way an LEA will allow an early start, but there is no need for them to be bored in good preschool education which adapts to the child's needs. If your child is in preschool with lots of much younger children and no provision made for their interests you could explore other options including independent pre prep. But in my 15+ years experience in early education too much 'hothousing' too young can be counterproductive too.

Send them to a good preschool and use the funding to pay for it.

I was put up a year shortly after starting school, because I was ahead academically and had a November birthday. It might have been the right thing academically but it was completely wrong overall- at that age the difference in emotional maturity and physical development are significant and it made it a lot harder for me to find friends etc. These days it’s done very rarely for that reason and it’s generally seen as much better to teach more advanced kids within their year group, not move them out of it.

I am chair of Governors and chair of admissions and in my 8 years no one has ever asked us this! I am fairly certain we would reject a request.

No experience. My daughter misses cut off by a week, academically she was ready to go to reception but emotionally not ready so we did t try for an early start. Boy what a difference 12 Months makes.

Tbh in 20+ years working in schools literally the only time I've known a child start early was one of triplets - one was born on cut off day, the other two were born after. In the meetings about what should happen it was decided the one should start technically early rather than the other two being held back.

Are there exceptional circumstances involved or do you just feel they'd be ready?

I did something similar many years ago. DS was in nursery class and due to move up in May but all his friends moved up in January. I asked if he could go with them as a lot of very young children were going into nursery class and was given a categorical no. Then a week later I had a phone call asking me if I would mind him moving into proper school as they were short of nursery places. Personally I would leave your DC as the oldest in their year and not the youngest in the year above. Enrich his education in the meantime at home

I agree with others OP having an older child is a blessing, under 6s learn better through play and school really ramps up in year 1 (which is really bad for alot of kids especially the summer babies). Please embrace the extra year, its much better for them. Xx

Many many years ago, I started early. The problem was that the junior school was completely separate, and I had had to redo "top infants" as it was called then, because they refused to accept me out of cohort. I was very sad that all my classmates moved up, and I couldn't.

Totally agree. DS (birthday first week of Sept) could have coped academically, but not socially/emotionally. By the year he actually started school - 3 days before his 5th birthday - he was more than ready (at 4 , a year is 25% of your life!) and had a very easy school experience. He’s just started A levels at 6th form college, with genuinely no significant issues throughout school. Being the eldest in the cohort is such an advantage, don’t take that away from your child.

I realise you can save a year of nursery fees but in the state system there is no other advantage to skipping a year at this age. You’ll find there are lots of September-born babies in school - since winter/Christmas time is a common time to get pregnant.

I agree my DD could have coped starting a year early - but she’d have had to repeat a year somewhere as she would not have been allowed to move up to year 7 early in our area. I guess you could switch to private school at end of primary which might work - you could repeat year 6 at an all-through private school and that might be effective?

Ps my September born dd had a very good final year at Pre school (full time in private nursery) where she was taught to phonics and learned to write her lower ans upper case letters. A good preschool will “feed” your child more stretching tasks.

My DD is currently at a private preschool. I was planning to send her to a state school, but a friend suggested I go to a few private school open days and honestly, it completely changed my view.
Now I’d really like her to start Reception in a private school. Budget is a bit of a concern, but her wellbeing matters most to me. Just wondered what other parents think. Thank you for the feedback!

It was some years ago but a girl in DDs class was born at 12.45 am on 1st September. Her Mum had tried to argue that she should go to school a year earlier but to no avail, the response was that there HAS to be an absolute cut off or it gets too complicated.
She DID seem older than quite a few of the other DS, especially July/August born boys but by Y2 they were all very similar

That’s the other issue. I have a feeling her current preschool might not be the best fit for her (just a hunch). If I move her to a private preschool, she could stay there until Year 3 and then transfer to another private primary. But even then, there’s no guarantee she’d get a place at Year 3, so I’m weighing up my options at the moment. Thank you!

If budget is already a bit of a concern before she's even started then I honestly wouldn't go down the private school route.

I've worked in schools for over a decade and have never heard of this happening. That said I'm not sure about private schools. As PPs have said, being older in the year is seen as a big advantage. It's great she seems ready but realistically, she's not going to get LESS ready with an extra year, if you feel she needs more of a challenge, look to introduce some early phonics and maths concepts at home but it's not something I'd actively push for - another year of preschool will be just as beneficial from a social and development perspective.