Compulsory Education: Deferment

Parents who wish to defer or delay entry of their children into Primary 1 must have strong reasons to support this. Applications may be made with MOE via an application form (68kb .pdf). For instance, a child whose birth date falls on 1st January 2006 will be 6 years of age on 1st January 2012. He/she will be due for Primary 1 in the school year commencing 1st January 2012. Hence, a parent who wants the child to enter Primary 1 on 1st January 2013 instead has to seek deferment for this.

Applications to defer registration/entry into Primary 1 may be made 6 months ahead of the commencement of the next school year, e.g. in June 2011 if the child is due to enter Primary 1 in January 2012.