To ask the Minister of Education to detail the number of children that were unable to secure a funded pre-school place in each of the last five academic years, broken down by constituency.

The Education Authority (EA) is responsible for administering the pre-school admissions process, as well as securing sufficient pre-school provision in local areas.

The EA has advised that at the end of stage two of the pre-school admissions process for each year, the number of children that had not been offered a funded pre-school place in a setting of their parents’ preference is as set out below.

However, sufficient provision was available in local areas to accommodate each child and children who did not receive the offer of a funded place at the end of stage two could still access one; the EA provides details of pre-school settings with places still available to parents at the end of stage two for this purpose.

* denotes fewer than 5 pupils suppressed due to sensitive nature and potential identification of individual pupils