Starting School

STARTING SCHOOL: TRANSITION, ENROLMENT, DEFERRED ENTRY AND ALTERNATIVE PROVISION

  • ENROLMENT

Information about school enrolment for children resident in Glasgow can be found on Glasgow City Council’s website:  P1 Enrolment

Any child who will attain the age of 5 years between 1 March 2026 and 28 February 2027 is eligible to start school in August 2026. Please note all children should be enrolled for their local catchment school. If a parent wishes to  put in a placing request to a different school, or consider alternative provision for P1, they should still complete the enrolment form.

Supporting enrolment:

  • Have you notified parents/carers about the enrolment process through a variety of communication channels in advance of the November enrolment date?
  • Have you considered how you can support parents/carers who may find it difficult to complete the enrolment process, for reasons such as difficulty accessing the internet, requiring literacy support, or needing support with English as an additional language?
  • Do you know what schools your children are zoned for? School catchment areas in Glasgow can be found using the My Catchment tool: My Catchment School

For information about school enrolment for children who live outwith Glasgow, please contact the local authority of their home address.

  • DEFERRED ENTRY

Information about deferred entry to primary school for children resident in Glasgow can be found on Glasgow City Council’s website:  Deferred Entry

Children who will still be four on the day school starts (February – August birthdays) can have their school entry deferred for a year and access a further funded year of ELC. The child’s ELC setting should inform CBSEarlyYears@ced.glasgow.gov.uk of the intention to defer. No further paperwork or evidence is required. 

Children who will be five when school starts (March –  August birthdays) will normally only be given a deferred year in exceptional circumstances related to particular additional support needs. The ELC setting should support the family to complete the below application form.

Download: Deferred Entry Information for Parents – Application_Process – GCC – 2021

Remember, if a child is deferred they will be removed from school enrolment lists. Therefore, the child must be enrolled again the following year.

Supporting deferment decisions:

  • Have the family got all the information they need to make an informed decision?  Is the child likely to make the best progress, and have their needs most effectively met, through a further year in ELC provision or through a P1 placement? More information is available on the Parent Club website.
  • We hope to provide more information about research on deferred entry here in the future.

For information about deferring entry to primary school for children who are not resident in Glasgow, and are born between March and August, please contact the local authority for their home address.

  • ALTERNATIVE PROVISION

In line with Glasgow’s staged intervention framework, and the national presumption of mainstream guidance, it is expected that almost all children with additional support needs will have their needs met within their ELC setting and their catchment school through inclusive learning environments, high-quality teaching and learning practices, and nurturing approaches.

For children with needs at Stage 4, whose needs cannot be effectively met within mainstream educational provision, it can be appropriate to consider alternative provision for ELC or primary. Applications for alternative provision are managed by the Area Inclusion Group (AIG). The AIG can also offer peer support / solution focused discussion, support with parent meetings, support with a team around the child meeting, advice and support to class staff from outreach service, support to plan a bespoke pathway and specific support from specialist provisions.

GCC settings can find all the information needed to apply to the AIG on the GoGlasgow page (link below). For those that can’t access GoGlasgow, all the same information and downloads are below. Effective transition planning for children begins early, and for children with additional support needs discussions about transition should be taking place at the start of their preschool year. Applications to be considered for alternative provision for P1 should be submitted early (generally before the end of October) in the child’s preschool year.

Supporting alternative provision decisions: 

  • Have you started with the presumption that all children will be enabled to attend their local catchment school, unless exceptional circumstances apply?
  • Have you got a really good understanding of the needs of all your children and how these can best be met through inclusive spaces and high-quality experiences and interactions?
  • Have you got records of high-quality planning and tracking of your children’s needs, including a personal support plan such as a WAP for children at stage 3 and 4. Download: WAP (Wellbeing Assessment and Plan) – GCC
  • Have you made contact with children’s catchment schools at the beginning of the preschool year to begin transition planning centred around the child, in collaboration with the child, their family, and all relevant professionals? For children at stage 3 and 4, have you had a transition planning meeting? Download: Child-Centred Template for Transition Planning- Individual – GCC -2025

Access:  GoGlasgow AIG information page

Download AIG Information:

GoGlasgow Information Page as Word Document – September 2024

AIG Guidelines 2025-26

PL1 screenshots

PL1 Online Form

Profile of Need Master

GLASGOW TOOLS AND SUPPORTS

  • ELC to Primary Transition Guidelines and LC Transitions Toolkit

The ELC to Primary Transition Guidelines are designed to be used by all ELC and primary settings in Glasgow to ensure we get transition right for every child. 

 

The LC Transitions Toolkit (Working and Guidance Documents) are for use by Learning Communities who wish to focus on improving transitions. They offer a framework for implementing the Guidelines to ensure best practice in transitions across a community.

Access for all:  Getting Transition Right For Every Child Guidelines

Access through GoGlasgow for GCC settings: Getting Transition Right for Every Child Guidelines

Please note these documents are password protected. Contact educationELC@glasgow.gov.uk if you require access.

NATIONAL DOCUMENTS AND POLICIES

Type ‘Transition’ into the search function on right hand side of top row, to identify all relevant national documents and policies.