Admission of children outside their normal age group
It is generally agreed that children should be educated with their chronological age group alongside their peers. Teachers are skilled at differentiating the curriculum to meet the diverse range of needs in a class, both the children with needs and the more able children. As education professionals they recognise that children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates, and there is always an opportunity to talk with the class teacher about how a child’s learning will be progressed.
However, parents may seek a place for their child outside the normal age group in exceptional circumstances, for example, if their child is gifted or talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. Additionally, parents of a summer born child may choose not to send their child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted outside their normal age group, i.e. to Reception rather than Year 1. For more information on this type of request, please refer to our page on Delayed admission for summer born children.
For all other requests, parents must make their request in writing, including any supporting evidence, to the admission authority for the school (either the County Council or the school itself) who will make their decision considering:
- the circumstances of your case
- the best interests of your child
- the views of the head teacher at the relevant school
More information is available in sections 2.18 – 2.20 of the School Admissions Code
Please note that one admission authority cannot be required to honour a decision made by another which means where multiple applications are being made to different schools, you may receive differing outcomes.
The decision of the admission authority will be communicated in writing to the parent(s).