School year delay or advancement

​Out of chronological year group

Children are allocated school places by year group according to their date of birth. The school year runs from 1 September until 31 August.

If a child is in a school class above or below their age group, they are known as 'out of chronological year group'.

Children are only allocated out of year group school places in exceptional circumstances.

A register of children educated out of chronological year group is held by the Inclusion and Early Intervention team at Children, Young People, Education & Skills (CYPES).

Children Placed Out of Chronological Year Group Policy

Year delay

The decision to place a pupil in a year group below the one they should be in, must be made as early as possible (either in preschool or early in key stage 1).

A decision may be made late:

• if it becomes necessary due to a special educational need
• as a result of trauma
• if a pupil is new to education in Jersey

A pupil who is delayed a year is unlikely to ever ‘catch up’, and would be entitled to leave school on their 16th birthday in Year 10.

Applying to delay a child

A parent seeking to delay a child by one year must first discuss this with their child's school.

The meeting should include:

• parents / carers
• head teacher
• child / young person if appropriate

The meeting should consider:

• evidence of thinking and reasoning skills below the average range
• evidence of learning and achievement below the expected range
• evidence of previous year delay in another school or country
• if the school is able to provide teaching at the level required. Year delay should not be a short term solution to a pupil’s social, emotional or intellectual needs
• the social/emotional impact of a year delay
• an agreed programme of review

If the request is not agreed then the school will be asked to make reasonable adjustments to the delivery of curriculum and support offer.

If the parent and school agree to explore further then the school raises the pupils name for  discussion at a termly multi professional meeting (PARM) or contacts the link Education Psychologist.

If agreed a full meeting is the held at the school with the:

parents / carers
• head teacher and or SENCO
• Link Ed Pysch
• child / student if appropratie

The school is responsible for capturing minutes of this meeting.

If the request is supported at the meeting, the minutes will be sent to the SEN panel within the Inclusion and Early Intervention section at CYPES. 

The request will then be discussed at the Special Educational Needs panel. The panel will review the evidence and make a decision.

Year advancement

The decision to place a child in the year group above the one they should be in, will only be taken for children of school age. The decision will generally be taken after they have started key stage 2 (Year 3 and above).

Applying to advance a child  ​

A request to advance a child by one year must first be discussed in a meeting with:

• parents / carers
• head teacher
• child / young person if appropriate

The meeting should consider:

• evidence of thinking and reasoning skills above the high average range
• evidence of learning and achievement above the expected range
• evidence of previous year advancement in another school or country
• the school's ability to provide teaching at the required level. Year advancement shouldn’t be a short term solution to a pupil’s social, emotional or intellectual needs
• the social / emotional impact of a year advancement
• an agreed programme of review ​

If the request is not agreed then the school will be asked to make reasonable adjustments to the delivery of curriculum and support offer.

If the parent and school agree to explore further then the school raises the pupils name for  discussion at a termly multi professional meeting (PALM) or contacts the link Education Psychologist.

If agreed a full meeting is then held at the school with the:

parents / carers
• head teacher and or SENCO
• Link Ed Pysch
• child / student if appropratie

The school is responsible for capturing minutes of this meeting.

If the request is supported at the meeting, the minutes will be sent to the SEN panel within the Inclusion and Early Intervention section at the CYPES. 

The request will then be discussed at the Special Educational Needs panel. The panel will review the evidence and make a decision.

A child cannot be advanced more than one year above their age group. A pupil who is advanced is likely to remain there throughout their education.

Appealing the decision

If a parent wants to appeal the decision of the Special Educational Needs panel, they must write to the Group Director for Education.

School year groups​

The table below details the year groups, by date of birth, for the school year starting in September 2020.