As the new academic year gets underway in Northern Ireland, a persistent crisis in special educational needs (SEN) provision has once again come to the fore, igniting a heated debate between school leaders and education authorities. This year, the scramble for school places for children with SEN left several families in limbo, and the fallout has prompted urgent calls for change from the region’s leading teaching union.
On September 14, 2025, the National Association of Head Teachers Northern Ireland (NAHT NI) issued an open letter to the Education Authority (EA) and Education Minister Paul Givan, demanding immediate talks to prevent what it called the “last-minute scramble for places” from becoming an annual ordeal. According to BBC, the letter was sparked by revelations in August that six SEN children had been left without a school place for September, a situation that many believe was entirely foreseeable.
The NAHT’s national secretary, Dr. Graham Gault, minced no words in his criticism of the current approach. He wrote, “Every single principal and teacher works effectively with SEN children on a daily basis, consistently demonstrating unwavering commitment and professional excellence.” Gault went further, describing any suggestion that schools were unwilling to accommodate SEN children as “profoundly insulting.” He insisted, “To suggest otherwise fundamentally misrepresents the reality of Northern Ireland’s education landscape and the extraordinary dedication of our workforce,” as reported by DonegalLive.ie.
The NAHT’s letter argued that the real culprit behind the crisis is not schools, but rather “sustained, systemic underfunding.” The union pointed out that, since the 2017-18 school year, overall pupil numbers have grown by less than 4%, yet the number of children with SEN statements has soared by 51%, all “without any corresponding increase in resources.” This, the letter claimed, has left schools ill-equipped to meet the rising demand for specialist provision. “Even indirectly attributing blame for current SEN provision challenges to school leaders is not only unwarranted, it actively misdirects attention from the true source of this crisis: sustained, systemic underfunding,” the letter stated.
The scale of the challenge is significant. Only 26% of mainstream schools in Northern Ireland currently offer specialist SEN provision, according to DonegalLive.ie. Earlier this year, Education Minister Paul Givan wrote to 58 schools requesting support for new SEN provision. Shockingly, only one school responded positively. With the crisis deepening, EA chief executive Richard Pengelly subsequently warned that some schools might be formally instructed to set up specialist provision, a move described as unprecedented.
In June, the EA cautioned that there was a “significant risk” that more than 160 children with SEN could be without a school place by September. While most of those children have since been placed, some may not start school until after Halloween. The last-minute nature of these placements has drawn sharp criticism from school leaders, who argue that such chaos is avoidable with better planning and resources.
Dr. Gault was unequivocal in his assessment: “The Education Authority’s last-minute scramble for places this year should have been entirely foreseeable. The answer is not to talk down school leaders and resort to trying to strong-arm schools which are ill-equipped to offer specialist provision units at extremely short notice and with limited support. Doing so is disrespectful to dedicated professionals, and not in the best interests of schools, pupils or parents.”
The union’s letter called for the establishment of mechanisms for “constructive, collaborative and positive engagement with school leaders in areas of high need within the next two months.” Gault emphasized the need for earlier collaborative efforts to identify the level of need and to ensure that all schools have the funding, resources, and space required to meet it. “Our children deserve better than perpetual crisis; they deserve strategic planning, adequate resources and the dignity of advance preparation,” the letter concluded.
The Education Authority, for its part, has welcomed the NAHT’s proposals for engagement. In a statement, the EA said, “This is an absolute priority. As we have emphasised, this can only be achieved through securing a large-scale expansion of the number of mainstream schools offering specialist provision.” The EA went on to say that ongoing engagement with schools in areas of highest need for SEN provision is a priority every year, and confirmed that work on SEN provision for the 2026-27 academic year is already well underway. “We plan to meet with NAHT representatives and, indeed, the wider NITC trade unions, at the earliest opportunity to discuss additional mechanisms for engagement with school leaders,” the EA added.
The EA also acknowledged the concerns about resourcing for schools, stating, “We know at first hand the consequences of severe budgetary constraints on education—we see them every day.” The Authority echoed the NAHT’s sentiment that children with special educational needs “must never be portrayed or perceived as burdens” and agreed that these children “enrich our school communities in countless ways, bringing unique perspectives, gifts and strengths.”
Despite these assurances, the underlying tensions remain. The NAHT has made it clear that it will not accept any narrative that shifts blame onto schools or downplays the dedication of educators. Instead, the union is pushing for a systemic overhaul—one that includes strategic planning, sufficient funding, and early, meaningful collaboration between all stakeholders.
Meanwhile, families of SEN children and their advocates continue to watch developments closely. The “endless cycle of last-minute crisis management is failing our children, their parents and failing the profession that seeks to serve them,” the NAHT’s letter asserted. For many, the hope is that this latest round of public pressure will finally spur the kind of long-term solutions that have so far proved elusive.
With the EA and NAHT both expressing a willingness to engage and collaborate, and with preparations for the 2026-27 academic year already underway, there is cautious optimism that Northern Ireland might be turning a corner in its approach to SEN provision. Whether these talks will yield the strategic planning and resources needed to end the annual scramble remains to be seen, but the message from educators is clear: the status quo is no longer acceptable, and the children of Northern Ireland deserve better.
