Parent(s) or carer(s) of summer born children who could start school in September 2021, but wish to delay applying for a reception place to start in September 2022, should make their application for a reception place for their child’s normal year of entry before the deadline of 5 p.m. on 15 January 2021. They should also make their request for admission to their preferred schools out of the normal age group by the same date - 15 January 2021. This is to enable sufficient time for requests to be processed prior to national offer day (16 April 2021).
If an admission authority agrees to the parent’s request, their application for the normal age group will be withdrawn before a place is offered for their normal year of entry and they must make a new application for that school as part of the main admissions round the following year. One admission authority cannot be required to honour a decision made by another admission authority on admission out of the normal age group. Parent(s) or carer(s) should therefore consider whether to request admission out of the normal year group at all their preference schools, rather than just their first preference school.
Please note: The admission authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools is NCC, whereas the admission authority for academies, voluntary aided, foundation and free schools, is either the governing body (VA and foundation schools) or the academy trust (academies and free schools).
How do I request to delay my reception application?
If you have more than one preferred school, you must make the request to delay your child’s reception application to each of the schools. You will only be able to add schools to your reception application whose admission authorities have agreed to the delay.
The following steps will be required depending on the type of school you are applying for. You can find out what type of school your preferred school(s) is/are by visiting
school admissions.
A. If your preferred school is a community or voluntary controlled school:
- Parent(s) or carer(s) make a formal written request (with reasons for the request) to school admissions at NCC (as this is the admission authority for these schools)
- Parent(s) or carer(s can supply school admissions with supporting information from a professional and/or early Years practitioner, if available, at the point of request
- School admissions will consult with the head teacher of the preferred school and take into consideration any evidence supplied in order to make a decision
B. If your preferred school is an academy, voluntary aided, foundation or free school (or your preferred school is a community or voluntary controlled school outside Northamptonshire):
- Parent(s) or carer(s) make a formal written request (with reasons for the request) to the preferred school
- Parent(s) or carer(s) can supply the school with supporting information from a professional and/or early years practitioner, if available, at the point of request
- The preferred school will then approach their admission authority with the reasons and evidence supplied by the parent(s)/carer(s) so that a decision can be made (by the admission authority) in consultation with the head teacher of the school
- Following their decision, the school should then inform the parent(s)/carer(s) of their decision in writing, giving detailed reasons if the request is refused
- If they agree to the request, the request and written confirmation from the admission authority of the preferred school that they are in agreement with the parent(s)/carer(s) request to delay their application to reception for a year, must be sent to school admissions at NCC by either the parent or the school so our system can be adjusted to accept a Reception application for the following year
What happens next?
A. If the admission authority of a school agrees to the parent(s) or carer(s) request to delay applying for a Reception place for a year:
- School admissions will write to the parent(s) or carer(s) confirming that an application for that school can be made in the following year. A copy of the letter sent by school admissions to the parent(s) or carer(s) will be sent to the head teacher of the school(s) concerned
- If parent(s) or carer(s) have made an application for reception in the normal year of entry, this application will be withdrawn and a place will not be offered on national offer day (16 April 2021)
- Parent(s) or carer(s) will then need to submit an application for the schools whose admission authorities have agreed to the delay for reception the following year
Please note: the current online system for applying for a primary school place is not set up to accept dates of birth outside the normal year group of entry. You will be sent a paper application form to complete and email/post back to School Admissions, ensuring it is sent in time to be received before the deadline of 5 p.m. on 15 January 2022. You can also find a copy of the application form on school admissions which can be printed off and completed - Parent(s) or carer(s) can only apply a full year later for a Reception place at schools whose admission authorities have agreed to a delayed application for their child
- The new application will be processed as part of the normal admissions round in the following year, according to the oversubscription criteria of each school stated as a preference
- While a school may agree to a delayed application, there is no guarantee that the child will be allocated a place at that school in the following admissions round as other children may have a higher priority within the school’s oversubscription admission criteria No additional priority will be given to an applicant applying under the summer born policy, nor will they be penalised
- If it is not possible to offer a place at one of the preferred schools, the local authority will make every effort to allocate a reception place (rather than a Year 1 place) at an alternative school. However because NCC is not the admissions authority for all schools, an school approached as an alternative school would have to agree to the delayed entry
- If the local authority is unable to offer a place at one of your preferred schools, it may not be possible to offer a place in Reception at another school (as they will not have agreed to delayed application). In this case, you would be offered a place at a school in Year 1 at the nearest school with a place available.
B. If the admission authority of a school refuses the parent(s)/carer(s) request to delay applying for a reception place for a year:
- Parent(s) or carer(s) will receive a letter from the admission authority of the preferred school providing reasons for refusal
- Assuming an application for a reception place for the normal year of entry was submitted on time (by 5 p.m. on 15 January 2021), parent(s) or carer(s) will receive an offer of a school place on national offer day (16 April 2021)
- Parent(s) or carer(s) then need to decide if they will accept the place offered for their normal year of entry on national offer day, or decline that place and apply for Year 1 place for the following September when their child is compulsory school age. If a parent or carer chooses to decline the place, they must put this in writing to the school admissions team (information about how to do this will be on your offer email)
- Parent(s) or carer(s) who have not applied for a reception place in their normal year of entry will need to apply as soon as possible if they decide that they would prefer their child to start in reception rather than waiting until they reach compulsory school age and start school in Year 1. Applications received after the deadline of 5 p.m. on 15 January 2021 will be classed as late applications (see
school admissions for more information on late applications)