Supporting all children and young people to access an appropriate education
A review of the admission policies of primary and post-primary special classes for autistic children and young people
In September 2024, the Department of Education Inspectorate published a thematic report on provision for children and young people with special educational needs in primary and post-primary schools. That report1 found that there were inappropriate clauses in the admission policies for special classes in one-third of the twelve post-primary schools inspected. The inappropriate clauses prevented young people with the greatest level of need from accessing a place in a special class and were not in line with the published guidelines for the establishment of special classes.2
Arising from this finding, the Inspectorate reviewed the enrolment policies of a further fifteen post-primary schools with special classes for autistic students3 and fifteen primary schools with special classes for autistic pupils. The fifteen post-primary schools were selected from the published list of schools that have special classes. The policies of the post-primary schools were accessed online from the schools’ websites. The fifteen primary schools were selected from the schools included in the Inspectorate’s programme of evaluations of provision in special classes conducted between September and December 2024. The policies of the primary schools were accessed from the schools as part of the evaluation.
The fifteen primary and fifteen post-primary schools included urban and rural schools from a broad geographical spread. The post-primary schools included seven voluntary secondary schools, five community schools and three schools under the patronage of the local Education and Training Board (ETB). The primary schools included eleven denominational and four multi-denominational schools. Two of the fifteen primary schools were Irish-medium.
This report presents the findings of the review.