I was delighted that the Minister for Schools, Nick Gibb MP, agreed in the early hours of this morning to my suggestions to allow summer born and premature children to defer their start to school.
The Minister agreed to amend the admissions code to ensure these children can be admitted to reception at the age of five, instead of having to go straight into year 1. He also said he would ensure those children are able to remain with that cohort as they progress through school.
The Department for Education will conduct a full public consultation on these changes in due course, and I will post the details of it when they become available.
Encouragingly the Minister also agreed to look into using a premature child's due date, rather than their birth date, to determine when they should start school.
I want to thank the Minister and the Department for Education for their positive response on this issue, and everyone who has got in touch with me about their experiences.
You can read what was said in the debate here. UPDATE - The Department for Education have issued a press release on this topic - fantastic news!