Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed the implications of using a premature child's due date, rather than his or her birth date, for the purpose of determining when that child should start school.

We have announced the intention to amend the School Admissions Code so that, subject to parliamentary approval, children born in summer can be admitted to the reception class at the age of five, where this is the wish of their parents. Work is currently underway to assess what other changes it might be appropriate to make to the Code. As part of this process, we will consider whether it would be appropriate to use a prematurely-born child’s expected birth date in the admissions process.