Summer baby school delays: Parents face postcode lottery
In October 2018 the BBC reported that parents who want to delay their child's first year of school have varying success rates depending on where they live.
Figures supplied under the Freedom of Information Act show 2,243 requests were made to 110 local authorities in England to defer starts to the 2018 school year - 18% higher than the previous 12 months.
But the rate of requests and their success rates varied considerably across England.
Get the data
Interviews and quotes
- Jennie Blake, from Manchester
- Councillor Luthfur Rahman, schools chief, Manchester Council
- Julie McCulloch, director of policy, Association of School and College Leaders
- Dr Claire Crawford, University of Birmingham
- Rosie Dutton, Spokeswoman, The Summer Born Campaign
- Spokesman, Department for Education
Visualisation
- Bar chart: Areas with the most applications to delay starting school