Zurückstellung vom Schulbesuch beantragen

In North Rhine-Westphalia, every child who has reached the age of six by the beginning of September 30th is required to attend school on August 1st of the same year. All children who turn six on October 1 or later are not required to attend school until the following calendar year.

As parents, you have the option of applying for deferral from school attendance if it is to be expected that the child will not be able to meet the requirements of Year 1 of elementary school for significant health reasons or if there is a risk of significant health problems.

In NRW, children of compulsory school age can only be deferred for one year. The decision is made by the school management on the basis of the school doctor's report. You as parents must be consulted. School administrators make the decision on deferral not only on the basis of the school doctor's report, but also take into account other specialist medical or therapeutic opinions provided by you, which contain significant evidence with a proven health reference for a deferral. Preventative aspects may also be taken into account.

As a rule, the period of deferral is not counted towards the period of compulsory schooling.

• School medical certificate
• Further documents such as specialist medical or specialist therapeutic statements that you provide to support your application

• Determination that your child does not meet the requirements of year 1 of elementary school for significant health reasons

• Application by parents to defer their child from attending school
• One-time deferral by school management possible
• Deferral only for serious health reasons

Please contact the elementary school in whose district you live.