In 2015, the former schools minister Nick Gibb pledged to legislate to allow children born between April and August to be automatically admitted to Reception if they delay starting school until they turn five – rather than the term after their fourth birthday – and remain with their original cohort throughout their education.
The commitment was in response to instances where children were being forced to miss their Reception year. This is because admission authorities did not approve parental requests for their child to be admitted outside of their normal year group.
However, academies minister Baroness Barran has now decided not to continue to pursue legislation on the issue as ‘data suggests that the system for summer-born admissions is now working much better than it was’.
In a statement, she says, ‘Our latest research survey report shows that the majority of requests for delayed entry to Reception are now approved, with almost nine in ten approved annually. This data reflects the clearer understanding admission authorities now have of their duties under the Code.
‘I am reassured that good progress has been made on this issue and that these improvements suggest the system is now working well. Taking all of this into account, I do not intend to continue to pursue legislation on this issue at this time, but will keep this position under review if the situation changes.’
However, the Summer Born Campaign has accused Baroness Barran of basing the decision on data from a ‘minority of admissions’.
Campaigner Pauline McDonaugh Hull explained, ‘After seven years of empty promises, the Government has committed to inequities for summer born children indefinitely. Its data is based on responses from a minority of admissions authorities, and does not align with the experiences in our group of almost 19,000 parents. The DfE provides no circumstance in which it is in a child's best interests to miss a year of school, yet allows headteachers and councils to implement this against parents' wishes. This latest development is a travesty.
‘One simple sentence in the 2014 or 2021 School Admission Code legislation would have protected the right to a full education for all summer born children, but instead, broken promises mean the postcode and birth lotteries of luck and privilege will be exacerbated.’