When can my child start school?

When you complete your acceptance form, you can choose when your child starts school full time. Your child can start:

Full time at the earliest available start date.
Part time, for example mornings only. You will need to talk to the school's headteacher about this. If your child keeps going to their pre-school or nursery while they're at school part time, they'll no longer be eligible for 15 hours of free childcare per week
The term after your child turns 5. This is known as compulsory school age. If you choose to do this, your child can continue to go to their nursery or pre-school and will still be eligible for 15 hours of free childcare per week. Waiting until compulsory school age before your child starts school is known as deferred entry.

At what time of year can my child start school?

Your child can start school from September 2024 or at different times of year, depending on when they were born.

Summer born children and delaying admission to reception

Most children start school in the September after their 4th birthday. However, children are not legally required to attend school until the term after their 5th birthday. If a parent is considering delaying when their child starts school, different options are available to them depending on when their child was born;

Children born September-December

If a child is born between 1 September and 31 December, then parents must apply for a school place during the winter that they turn 4 years old.

A child would usually be expected to start school in the September following their 4th birthday, however their start can be postponed, or they can attend part-time during the autumn term. This is called 'deferring' a child's admission to primary school. The latest parents can postpone their child's start is January.

If you would like to do this, you must:

Apply for and accept a school place during the winter of your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January after their 4th birthday.
Speak to the school about deferring your child's start to later in the year. If you want your child to attend part-time, discuss with the school what might be the best schedule.
The school will hold a child's place during the autumn term of their reception year, depending on how long they decide to defer.
A child must start school at least by the beginning of the Spring term in January.

Summer born children (April-August)

If a child was born between 1 April and 31 August, then they should start school in the September following their 4th birthday. In all cases parents should first apply for a school place in their child's normal age group. If you are still considering delaying your child's entry into reception, then you have several options available:

Option 1 - Postpone your child's start to later in the year
Option 2 - Attend school part-time
Option 3 - Delay admission by a year

Summer born option 1: postpone your child's start to later in the year

Summer born children are allowed to accept an offer of a school place but then postpone their start in Reception until later in the year. This is called 'deferring' a child's admission to primary school. The latest parents can postpone their start is April.

If you would like to do this, they must:

Apply for and accept a school place during the winter of your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January after their 4th birthday.
Speak to the school about deferring your child's start to later in the year. If you want your child to attend part-time, discuss with the school what might be the best schedule.
From the September after your child's 4th birthday, they can either attend school part-time, or they can postpone their start date until the start of the summer term of their Reception year.
Your child must start school at least by the beginning of the summer term in April.

Summer born option 2: attend school part-time

Summer born children are allowed to attend school part-time during the whole of their first year. This means that a child can start attending gradually. As long as the child starts school by April in their Reception year then they are allowed to attend part-time, either for all of the year or for part of it.

If you would like to do this, you must;

Apply for and accept a school place during the winter of your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January after their 4th birthday.
Speak to the school about deferring your child's start to later in the year. If you want your child to attend part-time, discuss with the school what might be the best schedule.
From the September after your child's 4th birthday, they can either attend school part-time, or they can postpone their start date until the start of the summer term of their Reception year.
A child must start school by the beginning of the summer term in April, whether full or part-time.

Summer born option 3: Delay admission by a year

If parents are considering delaying a child's admission by a full year, they will need to request permission. This decision will place your child in a lower year group for the rest of their education - though this may not apply for future applications to alternative settings

It is important to remember that if parents do choose to delay, they will lose the school place originally offered to their child, and will have to re-apply for a school place the following year. The oversubscription criteria will apply if there are more applications than places available at the school.

Each year, a number of families who decide to delay admission discover that they no longer qualify for a place at their preferred school because the cut-off distance was changed. Parents should keep this in mind while making their decision about whether to delay admission.

If you are a Wokingham Borough resident or applying for a Wokingham Borough school and want to delay admission, you must:

Apply for and accept a school place during the winter of your child's 4th birthday. The deadline for applications is 15 January after their 4th birthday
Complete our Summer Born Deferral Request Form (PDF document)
Meet with the headteacher of the school, and any others you plan to apply for, to discuss the options available.

If you plan to apply for Wokingham Borough community or voluntary controlled schools, the Wokingham borough Local Authority will consider your request
If you plan to apply for academies, free schools or voluntary aided schools, the school will consider your request.
If you plan to apply for schools outside the Wokingham Borough you will need to discuss their procedures with them directly.