To ask the Minister of Education to detail the (i) number of children waiting for a special education needs assessment in East Londonderry; and (ii) average waiting time for receiving an assessment in the last twelve months.

Following receipt of a request for a statutory assessment of a child’s special educational needs, the Education Authority (EA) is required to complete this process within the statutory timeframes outlined in the Education (NI) Order 1996 and the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs. Therefore, waiting lists do not apply in relation to such assessments.

The EA has advised that the number of pupils in East Londonderry for whom a decision has been made to carry out a statutory assessment and who were within the ten week period, allowed by statute, to complete the assessment, as at 31 December 2015, is 30.