Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to amend the School Admissions Code to ensure that summer born children can (a) be admitted to reception at the age of five if on request of their parents and (b) remain with that cohort as they progress through (i) primary and (ii) secondary school.

The Department is 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, and can remain with the cohort with which they are admitted as they progress through their education.

The Department is giving careful consideration to how changes might be made 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.