Guidance for parents

Deferred entry reception class

Parents of children who will become 5 years old during the summer term of the 2026 to 2027 academic year may consider deferring their child's admission to primary or infant school until the beginning of the 2027 to 2028 academic year.

This only applies to children born between 1 April 2022 and 31 August 2022.

However, if doing so, parents should note that most children in Birmingham start school at the start of the academic year when they reach the age of five.

Therefore, some or all of the parents' preferred schools will likely not have vacancies in their child's year group if they apply for a place in year 1. This is because these places would have been allocated to children who started school the previous year.

As part of this request for deferred entry, you must also complete an application. Families must apply for a reception place for September 2026 from 1 October 2025 to 15 January 2026.

Applications after 15 January 2026 will be classed as late applications. Late applications will not be processed until the offer of places which is on 16 April 2026.

Deferred entry secondary transfer

You will need to request deferred entry now for transfer to secondary education in September 2026 only if your child:

• was born between 1 April 2015 to 31 August 2015, and
• had deferred entry agreed at the point they were due to start reception if they were due to transfer to secondary school in September 2026

As part of this deferred entry request, you must also complete an application. Families must apply for a secondary school place for September 2026 from 1 September 2025 to 31 October 2025.

Applications after 31 October 2025 will be classed as late applications. Late applications will not be processed until the offer of places which is on 2 March 2026.

Page last updated: 10 September 2025