North and East Riding of Yorkshire councils said today they had no plans to change the way children start their education.

The City of York Council is to phase in a new system of admissions over the next three years which will see children starting full-time formal education in the term after their fifth birthday.

At the moment different systems operate which mean many pupils start full-time in reception classes when they have just turned four, and the council wants to bring in a policy so that all York schools operate in the same way.

Instead of going into reception before their fifth birthday, children will be offered a mixture of learning through play, care and some formal education, through schools and other providers.

In North Yorkshire and the East Riding, however, there are no plans to change the current system, known as "rising fives".

Cynthia Welbourn, North Yorkshire's director of education, said: "Our existing admissions arrangements provide for children to be admitted to reception at any point in the year in which they reach the age of five."

"That arrangement is very, very popular with parents and gives flexibility which in a place like North Yorkshire we need," she said. Steve Attwood, principal education administration officer at the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: "We are still running a rising fives policy."

York's decision to bring in the new system follows consultation with parents and schools.

A pilot scheme will run in a number of schools from September 2000, and the system will then be introduced gradually until September 2003.

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