Summer-Born School Admissions: New Report Published

Back in September Michelle Melson wrote a really interesting piece for our blog highlighting the problem that can exist for parents of summer-born children who wish their child to begin reception at compulsory school age. As she explains in the article, she managed to delay the start date for her own summer-born child. However, the process took around 6 months and required a great deal of correspondence with the local authority, her local MP and the Department for Education. 

As a result of her experience she joined the campaign group ‘Flexible School Admissions for Summer Born Children’ founded by Stefan Richter.  Michelle, along with journalist and author Pauline Hull have now published a report entitled ‘Compulsory School Age in England has been Lowered to 4 through an Unfair and Unlawful Summer Born Admissions Process’.

It is a very detailed and well written document and I think the conclusions drawn make a lot of sense. The main emphasis of the report can be surmised from the following extract:

The School Admissions Code is not fit for purpose and has contributed to a detrimental ‘back-door’ lowering of the compulsory school age (by up to a whole year for some children) from 5 to 4 years old. Because the Code does not specifically prescribe the way in which summer born children can enter Reception class at compulsory school age, laws that protect the rights of children and parents are being ignored, leaving no real choice, and no right of appeal.

I would encourage everyone with an interest in school admission to read the report in full. It can be found on the Summer Born Children website: summerbornchildren.org.