Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department is making on implementing its changes to school admissions for summer-born children.

The Department is concerned that some summer born children may be missing the important education in the reception year at school. The Department remains committed to amending the School Admissions Code so that summer born children can be admitted to a reception class at the age of five when their parents believe it to be in their best interests. The Department is giving careful consideration to how we might make these changes in a way that avoids unintended consequences elsewhere in the system. Any changes to the Admissions Code will require a full statutory process, including consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. The Department will consider the appropriate time for consulting on these changes in the context of competing pressures on the parliamentary timetable.