It comes after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the council ‘failed’ to follow Department for Education (DfE) guidance when deciding when an August-born child could start school.
The girl’s mother had applied to postpone her daughter’s school start last year because she felt it was not in her best interests.
As per Government guidance, children born from 1 April to 31 August (summer-born), do not need to start school until the September after their 5th birthday, a full year after they could have first started school.
Where a parent delays their child’s start, they may request their child is admitted out of their normal age group in order to start in Reception rather than in Year 1. It is up to the school admission authority to make a decision on which year group a child should be admitted to. The decision should be based upon the circumstances of the case and what is in the best interests of the child.
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