The ACT and Victoria allow a student to start school if their fifth birthday falls on or before April 30 while in the Northern Territory and Queensland the cut-off is June 30.
“I would say NSW is a bit of an outlier compared to other states,” Chiang said.
“The issue of children being sent too early when they’re not ready causes problems for the child in terms of how they adjust at school.”
The trend of holding children back is particularly pronounced in Sydney, with boys more likely to start school older than girls. But researchers say it has no long-term academic benefits.
University of New England research shows students who were held back received slightly higher results in NAPLAN results on average in year 3 but that advantage dissipates by the time students reach year 9.
Co-author of that research Dr Sally Larsen said the cut-off date should be brought forward to April to reduce the gap.
“In terms of development, a year is quite a long time. If you have kids who should be in year one, there is a possibility that they will get bored and misbehave; I don’t think parents consider that aspect of it,” she said.
“In NSW, we have this particularly unusual situation where you can get a 19-month gap… We have the widest age range, it hasn’t been tinkered with for 36 years, it is this historical policy which just continues on and on.”
Last year Mitchell, then-NSW education minister, suggested lifting the school age to six following the announcement of a plan to give every child in the state a year of free pre-kindergarten. Labor pledged to match the coalition’s plan but deliver it faster, saying they would build 150 preschools in the first term in office.
“In my view, this would have been a sensible time to recalibrate the school starting age,” Mitchell said.
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The current school starting age rules were introduced in 1987 after NSW followed Victoria and moved the cut-off to July. While Victoria abandoned that policy seven years later, NSW was stuck with it.
Australian National University Professor Benjamin Edwards said research showed over a number of years more affluent areas of Sydney sent their children to school later and migrants were more likely to send them to school earlier, possibly due to the high cost of childcare.
“What’s amazing to me is how resilient this phenomenon is over such a long period. It’s a very Sydney thing,” he said.
Next year, kindergarten students in South Australia will be able to attend a “mid-year intake” for students born from May to October in a bid to reduce the large age gaps and differences in student development. Students who enter halfway through the year will complete six terms of the first year of schooling.
Most private schools in NSW specify a student must be five years of age by March 31 of the year they enter kindergarten, including St Luke’s Grammar on the northern beaches. In its commencement policy, the school said that cut-off meant fewer students would need to repeat a grade.
“The teaching staff has seen over time that the students who are born in the period from April to July inclusive do not always achieve the appropriate milestones and in many instances parents seek to repeat these students,” it said.
Principal Geoff Lancaster said a later start date meant students were mature and could better manage their emotions, communicate effectively, and build positive relationships. “In our experience, this is often a good choice to ensure students are ready for school and also to not force them to grow up too quickly,” he said.
In 2019, Newington College went a step further and determined that it would only enrol kindergarten students who turn five by January 31 because of the benefits of play to a child’s early years.
While private schools have tightened age differences, NSW Primary Principals Association president Robyn Hughes said there were other aspects besides age.
“We look at the readiness of coming into school … age isn’t something we first look at,” she said.
Steph Cochrane, who lives in Sydney’s south, could send her daughter Florence to school next year but will wait another 12 months. “I just think there is never a problem in holding them back,” she said.
Steph Cochrane with her kids Florence, 4, Toby, 9, Demi, 2 and Zach, 7. She said parents never regretted sending their kids to school later.Credits: Brook Mitchell
She said Florence was academically and emotionally mature, but she believed parents only regretted sending their children to school earlier, not later.
“Kids who have good emotional wellbeing and are happy, they’re the ones who are going to learn,” she said.
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