Alliance voices concerns over summer-born admissions rules
19th December 2014
Commenting on the revised Schools Admission Code and supplementary DfE guidance on the admission of summer-born children, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance said:
“We are concerned that the new Code and supplementary guidance have done so little to tackle concerns about summer-born admission rules.
“Summer-born children are often at a disadvantage in the education system, with research showing that such children are more than twice as likely to be in the bottom set in school compared to their September-born peers. Given this, it is completely understandable that parents may want to take steps to prevent this as the earliest possible opportunity and defer their child’s entry into reception. However, we continue to hear of instances around the country where schools and local authorities are - incorrectly - claiming that this is not possible. Neither the revised Code, nor the supplementary guidance, will in their current form do much to help tackle the confusion and inconsistency that currently exist around this issue.
We believe that it should be for parents, and not just head teachers and admission authorities, to decide whether or not deferring entry into reception is the best interest of their child. However, under the new guidance, admission authorities still have to right to completely disregard parents’ wishes - and worse still, parents do not have a right to appeal. This is clearly grossly unfair, and we would urge the government to reconsider its approach on this matter.
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Notes for editors
ABOUT THE ALLIANCE
- The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
- Through direct provision and its membership of 14,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
- For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website: