ELC Additional Year (Or Deferral of P1)

Covering the period of 01 March to the end of the following February - if a child's 5^th birthday occurs, they are eligible to enter Primary 1 at the start of term in the August within that period.

We send letters to the parents/carers of all known eligible pupils in West Lothian, who are eligible to apply for a P1 place for the next school year, this letter will also advise if a child can defer their P1 entry and how to apply for an additional year of ELC.

• If a child's 5^th birthday occurs between 01 March and the 1^st day of the school year in the August, then you cannot defer your child's entry into Primary 1.
   
• If your child's 5^th birthday occurs between 2^nd day of the school year in the August and the end of February, then you can defer your child's Primary 1 start to the following August.  You do not need to apply to defer your child's Primary 1 start, however you do need to apply for an additional year of ELC if you wish your child to attend a funded ELC placement for that year.

Parents/carers who are considering deferring their child's entry should ask advice from the staff at the nursery their child currently attends, as they will be able to provide information on your child's progress.

Please note that we will not change or discuss any application with anyone other than the named person(s) on the application form. Information regarding all our primary schools can be found at Find a School or Nursery page.

Before starting to complete an application form please read the ELC Additional Year (Or Deferral of P1) Policy and Procedure carefully.

We have a new application system called Admit and on this we have opened the process to apply for an additional year of nursery in school year 2026/2027.  We thank you for your patience as we transition over to this new system.

Admit allows parents/carer to submit/see progress of applications, so we are striving to help parents to submit applications (for additional year of nursery places to start in August 2026) through Admit.

If you have any issues with the new system please seek our help by contacting us via e-mail to pupilplacement@westlothian.gov.uk or if you have managed to create an account on Admit, then you can use the messaging section of the new system to advise us of your issue.

We ask parents to submit applications as soon as possible once the process opens to allow for planning, however as the closing date is the 15 March 2026, we have time to help resolve any issues you may be having.

Before starting to complete an application form please read the Additional Year of Early Learning & Childcare (Deferral of Entry to P1) (PDF, 100 KB)(opens new window) and the Privacy notice - early learning and childcare application (PDF, 192 KB)(opens new window) carefully. 

Please use the Admit Application Portal (opens new window) to apply

The Council's School Placement Panel has responsibility for deciding these applications.

Applications are accepted from the October/November each year.

All applications requesting an additional year of ELC should be submitted by the 15 March, in the year they turn 5 if their fifth birthday is between the third Tuesday in August and the 31 December, or the year prior to them turning 5 if they were born between the 01 January and the end of February.  Applications received after this date will be considered, but places in a setting or session may not be available if decisions for nursery for that year have taken place.

For applications received by the 15 March who are applying for the same nursery and attendance pattern as their child currently attends, we will notify you of the decision within 4 weeks of receiving the application.

For applications received by the 15 March who are applying for a different nursery or a different attendance pattern than their child currently attends, your change request will be considered with all other applications for ELC for that year and you will be notified of a decision by the end of May confirming the nursery and attendance pattern that has been allocated.