A public consultation on changes to classroom support for children with special educational needs closed on 22 May 2026, drawing more than 3,000 responses.

The Education Authority (EA) said the consultation set out proposed reforms aimed at improving how children and young people with SEN are supported in schools. Submissions came from children, parents, carers, classroom assistants, teachers and school leaders.

Of the total, 2,942 responses were submitted through the online Citizen Space platform, according to the EA.

Tomas Adell, the EA's Chief Transformation Officer, stated that the scale of engagement highlights the importance of the issue. He said the authority will now carefully analyse all feedback to develop a model that draws on the expertise of teachers, special educational needs coordinators and classroom assistants, integrates specialist support and gives schools flexibility to provide help when it is needed.

The proposed reforms are expected to be phased in over several years, starting with schools that already use alternative approaches to SEN support.