A Tes Scotland investigation has revealed that the number of children deferring entry into P1 has increased substantially in Scotland, following a change in the law that means all children who would be aged 4 when they start school are entitled to an extra year of funded nursery.
Early figures - uncovered from councils using freedom of information legislation - suggest that the number of children deferring entry into P1 has increased by 20 per cent compared with 2022. In one local authority the number of children deferring entry to P1 has more than doubled following the law change, the figures show.
However, not all councils have seen a rise in the number of families opting for an extra year of nursery.
In total eight councils reported a fall in deferrals this year - although some said that their figures could rise after the 2023-24 school year is underway.
Local authorities’ umbrella body Cosla told Tes Scotland that “a number of councils are reporting notable increases in the number of children deferring entry to P1 for the next academic year”.
Increase in deferred entry to school
Cosla said that, while councils have been working with partners to implement the new rules, “numbers could continue to increase over time, which could result in a strain on [early learning and childcare] capacity and increased costs of delivery”.=
It also said that local government would continue “to work in partnership with Scottish government to monitor the impact of the policy change for councils following full implementation from August 2023”.
However, those that supported the change in the law - notably, the Give Them Time campaign - said that because overall nursery registrations are falling, councils should be able to accommodate any increase in deferrals.
They also suggested that if the number of deferrals continued to rise, it could be time to reopen the debate on the school starting age.
The school starting age in Scotland is 5 for most but - depending on when a child’s birthday falls - some children will be 4 when they enter P1.
These children and their families previously had the right to put off primary school for a year - but until this year only those born in January and February were automatically entitled to a fully funded nursery place for a further year. Children with birthdays falling just after the start of the school year, in August, and up until December could apply to defer entry to P1 - but it was at the discretion of the council whether another year of nursery was funded.
Now all children aged 4 when they are due to start school are entitled to that funding.
Just before the school summer holidays, in mid-June, Tes Scotland put in a freedom of information request to all councils, asking for figures on the number of pupils deferring entry to P1 this school year, compared with last year.
Comparable figures were provided by 29 councils and they reveal that the number of children deferring entry to P1 has increased by 20 per cent, going from 6,492 in 2022 to 7,768 this year.
In Fife the number of children deferring entry to P1 has more than doubled this year and in Aberdeenshire it has increased by 50 per cent.
However, not all councils have seen deferrals rise. West Lothian Council, for example, had 229 pupils opting for an extra year of nursery last year but that figure fell to 205 this year.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said that the P1 school roll dropped by 4 per cent from 2,051 in 2022 to 1,968 in 2023.
The spokesperson added that because West Lothian had been granting all deferral applications since 2021, in anticipation of the new rules being introduced, it had not expected a significant rise.
“The fact that parents now have the legal right to defer P1 entry was publicised on our website, social media channels and local media from November 2022,” they added.
Shelagh McLean, head of education and children’s services in Fife, said that, although the Fife figures show the sharpest rise, the number of applications this year was “in line with our expectations”.
“Last year we were one of the councils to pilot the new deferral regulations. Like most local authorities who took part, we saw an increase in deferral applications during the pilot and we’ve used our experience of this to plan ahead and ensure that we have sufficient nursery places for those who need them,” she added.
In Aberdeenshire, where deferrals have also risen significantly this year, a spokesperson said the council was working to understand what was driving the rise and “whether this is a trend or a one-off spike”.
The spokesperson added: “Whilst a rise in numbers will bring with it increased costs, the additional funding will come from existing budgets.
“There are sufficient places for all eligible children, though it may mean that some parents do not get their first-choice place as a result of the increase in demand.”
Official Scottish government figures show that the overall number of three- and four-year-olds registered for funded early learning and childcare decreased to 77,974 in 2022 from 78,115 in 2021. This continues the trend of decreasing numbers of registrations since the 85,425 recorded in 2018.
Patricia Anderson, one of the two parents behind the Give Them Time campaign, said this suggested that councils should be able to accommodate any rise in deferrals.
Ms Anderson also said that while the number of families choosing to defer entry to P1 for their four-year-olds might rise in the short term, it is likely that the figures will plateau - especially as the impact of the Covid pandemic could still be influencing families’ decisions this year.
Time to change the school starting age?
Ultimately, though, if parents continue to take up the new entitlement in growing numbers, she suggested, it could be time to revisit the school starting age.
“More and more parents are getting informed and this culturally entrenched view that getting children off to school the earlier, the better, is being chipped away at,” she said.
Reflecting on the success of the Give Them Time campaign, which started in 2018, Ms Anderson said that securing the law change was “massive” and that the new deferral entitlement was “wonderful”.
However, she added: “But is it really out there if people don’t know about it? So we are still fighting to ensure that people know about their rights because if you don’t know about them, they don’t really exist.”
The Give Them Time campaign has been critical of some councils for failing to properly promote the change in the law. It has also hit out at the decision not to have a national campaign making parents aware of their new rights.
Ms Anderson anticipates that the work of the Give Them Time campaign will continue until there is widespread understanding of the new entitlement.
A Scottish government spokesperson said the change in the law allowed parents and carers to “make decisions based on the best interests of their child without the financial barrier of childcare costs”.
The spokesperson added: “It is important that local authorities continue to work together with parents and carers to ensure families are aware of their rights when it comes to deferral and are able to make the best decision for each child.”
