Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the review on allowing schools to admit summer-born children to reception class at the age of five will be published.

The Department is concerned that some summer born children may be missing the reception year at school. The Department remains committed to amending school admissions policy so that summer born children can be admitted to a reception class aged 5, where parents believe this to be in the best interests of their child. The Department is continuing to review the implications of any changes.

It is encouraging that many admission authorities are now more responsive to requests for delayed entry to the reception year. Data from a survey of local authorities, published by the Department in May 2018, indicated that requests to delay entry are agreed in around 75% of cases. This data is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707417/Delayed_school_admissions_for_summer-born_pupils.pdf.