Early entry to school

Children normally start school in August if their 5th birthday is before 1 March of the following year.

If your child's birthday is after 1 March, you can still apply to have them admitted early but you should consider these points first:

• will they be able to fit physically and mentally into a classroom setting for five hours a day with older children, some of whom will be more than a year older than them?
• they may miss out on the more informal learning they'd get from parents and friends and other things that shape a young child's emotional and social development
• even if your child does cope at first, studies show that when they get to leaving age they may not be as physically or emotionally mature as their classmates
• they may be too young to get into some higher education courses

If you still want to apply for early entry, please email Edsuppserv.helpline@southlanarkshire.gov.uk to request a copy of the early entry to school form.

For normal admissions to school, parents should register their child in January before the start of the academic year in August - please see our page on enrolling your child for school.