AQW 29301/22-27
Mrs Michelle Guy
Alliance Party
Lagan Valley
Tabled Date: 25/06/2025
Answered On Date: 09/07/2025
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail his assessment of the current situation for school places for children with special educational needs ahead of the next academic year, given that over 160 children are currently without a place.
Answer:
The current situation for school places for children with special educational needs remains a top priority for my department and the EA and we will continue to work collaboratively over the summer to ensure that every child has a school place for September. It is critical that the annual cycle of emergency planning comes to an end and that a more sustainable approach is taken forward over future years. The Education Authority (EA) has advised that: Since September 2024, EA has engaged extensively with schools not yet offering Specialist Provision and remain committed to working in partnership with all schools to find sustainable solutions. To address the pressures, and working collaboratively with a number of schools, in preparation for September 2025, EA has already created more than 150 additional classes, for approximately 1,350 pupils, across 123 schools. In early June the Minister wrote directly to 59 schools, encouraging them to engage with EA on this matter. EA followed this up throughout June and recently wrote to a number of schools in particular areas of pressure. Unfortunately, many of these schools have still not engaged with EA in the way that we would want. Despite that, upon hearing of the difficulty of the position, a number of those schools that have previously worked with us to create Specialist Provision have, again, stepped forward to help. The consequence of this is that the residual pressure for placements has reduced to around 50 children, and we feel that with continued work over the summer, it may be possible to reduce this to zero by the start of the next school year. However, finding the final places will be particularly challenging, and consequently some parents may not receive notification of their child's school placement until late August. We recognise that this delay may lead to understandable concern. Furthermore, accommodating the remaining pupils could require some children to travel greater distances than would be the case if a local solution was available. EA remains committed to minimising these impacts wherever possible. Despite this reduction in the number of children remaining unplaced, we recognise that, for those children still without a place, it remains a frustrating and worrying time. Ensuring every child has appropriate educational support remains EA’s highest priority.
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