To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the number of children, from nursery upwards, with special educational needs who have applied for, but not been allocated, a place at the special school closest to them; (ii) the reasons for this; (iii) the mechanism by which places at special schools are allocated; (iv) the transport arrangements in place for those pupils who have not been allocated places at their closest special school; and (v) any other support that exists for parents of these pupils.

The Education Authority (EA) was able to secure places for all children who required placement however, 28 children at nursery level were not able to be placed at the closest special school. The EA did not keep a record of those children at primary or post primary who were unable to be placed at their closest special school.

Issues around placements were a consequence of cumulative pressures over a number of years.

The mechanism by which places at special schools are allocated, is governed by the statutory framework within the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and the Education (Special Educational Needs) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005. Parental preference must also be considered pursuant to Article 44 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. The EA works in cooperation with schools and parents and makes every effort to ensure that children are placed in the school of parental preference, subject to statutory considerations.

All children are subject to the EA’s Transport Policy. The EA provides transport to the vast majority of children who are attending a special school setting including some children who have not been allocated places at their closest special school. The EA has a statutory duty to transport children where transport has been named on their Statement of Special Educational Needs, whether the school is the closest special school or not.

The EA also provides a range of other support for parents including allocating a named Special Educational Needs (SEN) Link Officer to families; providing Pupil Support Services for a range of special educational and medical needs and the SEN Early Years’ Service and the SEN Inclusion Service.