6. Mr Chambers asked the Minister of Education to outline what assurances he can give that all pupils with special educational needs will receive a placement in their school of choice in the 2024-25 school year. (AQO 657/22-27)

Ensuring that all children with special educational needs have a school placement that is appropriate to meet their needs is, and will continue to be, a primary focus for my Department and the Education Authority (EA).

Around 60% of children with SEN do not require a statement of special educational needs. Those children apply for a school place through the general school admissions process. Some 40% of children with SEN have a statement of SEN, and those children follow a different process, whereby their school placement is named on their statement, based on their individually assessed needs and in consultation with parents and schools. Although parental preference is considered, responsibility for the naming of a place rests with the Education Authority.

There has been a significant increase in the number of children requiring a specialist education place in recent years, and details of the struggle to keep pace with demand are well rehearsed. Almost 4,500 children with a statement of SEN require a new placement or change of placement for September 2024. In February, the Education Authority advised that around 1,000 additional special education places were required to meet that demand, and significant progress has been made through the creation of additional capacity. The requirement now stands at around 400 places to be established.

Significant progress has also been made on securing appropriate placements for all children with special educational needs for September. As of 24 June, 83% of children with a statement of SEN have a confirmed place. That figure is expected to rise significantly by the end of June. The situation for September remains challenging, however, with particular pressures on special school places. Focused work continues on securing additional special education places across the entire school estate.

I thank the Minister for his reply. I am sure that he will agree that the placement of mainstream transfer pupils can be a stressful exercise, but for special educational needs pupils and their families, it is even more stressful. Hopefully, with the help of the House, he can find a resolution to a situation that he has acknowledged is challenging.

I thank the Member for his comments. He recognises the efforts that are being made to try to meet the need. That work continues, because we have to make sure that, by September, every child has a place. My Department is supporting the Education Authority in doing that.

We have taken steps, including seeking schools to identify their willingness to provide spaces. We are mapping all of that out. We have surveyed a lot of schools on what the need would be in order to provide any change or to put in specialist provision. All of that work has been taken forward by my Department along with the EA. That work will continue, because I am determined that, by September, every child will have a place.

I met the chief executive of the EA, and he told me that the target was to make sure that every child has a place by September. I do not want to be here next year in the same position, because the anxiety and stress for families who still do not know where their child is going to be placed is unacceptable, for them and for me. We need to make sure that, when we get through this year, we are not faced with the same scenario next year.

Will the Minister join me in commending the five schools in my constituency of North Down that have come forward to express an interest in establishing new or additional specialist provision classes? Will he outline what impact those additional classes would have on SEN pressures locally?

I will happily join the Member in thanking the schools in his constituency that responded positively, as well as all the other schools that expressed a willingness to provide additional capacity for this year and, indeed, for future years. It was a very positive response.

In response to the survey that my Department issued, 400 schools indicated a willingness to establish specialist provision classes. Officials engaged with schools that said that they could establish provision this year, and we are following up with the remainder for the new school term to ensure that provision can be put in place in line with projected need.

Six schools have agreed to establish new specialist provision this year in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area. That will create seven additional classes for up to 60 children with social and communication needs and learning difficulties who otherwise may not have had access to a suitable school place for September 2024. I thank those schools for their proactive approach.

That ends the period for listed questions. We will now move on to 15 minutes of topical questions. Questions 1, 5 and 9 have been withdrawn.