The Education Authority (EA) has cautioned that the annual cycle of securing special educational needs (SEN) school placements is becoming unworkable, as demand outstrips capacity in special schools and specialist provision in mainstream schools remains too limited.

By next week, the EA expects to have fewer than 15 additional places left to confirm for September 2026 entry. Across mainstream and special schools, 129 new classes will create more than 1,100 new places for the coming school year and beyond.

Dale Hanna, the EA’s chief operations officer, acknowledged the effort to secure placements but warned that the current model is no longer viable. Many special school buildings are at or near capacity, while a minority of mainstream schools carry most of the specialist provision load.

Mr Hanna said some children will receive placements that are not ideal, such as being placed in specialist provision rather than a special school or having to travel outside their local area. He described these outcomes as a necessity driven by the system’s constraints.

Thirty per cent of mainstream schools are expected to have specialist SEN classes by September 2026, an increase of four percentage points on the previous year. EA engagement with over 400 mainstream schools led to 101 schools establishing new or pathway classes this year, including 49 schools that previously had no such provision.

However, Mr Hanna noted that some schools in areas of greatest need have resisted engagement. He called for a significant and rapid expansion of specialist SEN provision across mainstream schools to spread the burden more fairly.