SEN Information for Families - Your questions answered

Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs get school places differently from children who do not have a Statement. They don't need to apply for a school place. Instead, each child's needs are looked at separately to find the best support for them. A meeting called an Annual Review will be held at your child's current school, where staff will discuss your child's needs and ask you to tell us which schools you would prefer. You will later be given the chance to change your preferences (if needed) before any schools are contacted. The EA will prepare a document known as an Amendment Notice. You will be asked to confirm your school once you receive the amendment notice, usually by email. The EA will then look at your school preferences to check that the schools can support your child’s individual needs. If they can EA will contact schools for you to agree a place. When a place is agreed, they will send you an updated statement with the school’s name on it.

If your child has a Statement of SEN but doesn't go to school, the EA will carry out the Annual Review with you following the same steps as above.

If a Statement of Special Education Needs is not confirmed – e.g. if your child’s Statutory Assessment is still processing or if you have only received a Proposed Statement -you must still apply for a school placement via the Admissions process.

If you submitted a request for statutory assessment through EA Connect (after 12 January 2026), you can view the status of your request by logging into your EA Connect portal and navigating to the Statutory Assessment area. 

From here, you can access the Timeline, which will display the current status and progress. For further guidance see our Request for Statutory Assessment section.

You can also contact your SEN Link Officer or SEND Central if you have any questions.

A specialist provision class is a smaller class group within a mainstream school that has specialist staff who give extra support to children with special educational needs. Children go to the same school as their mainstream peers and can join them for classes and activities where they can, depending on their SEN. 

A special school is a school where all classes are specifically for children with more complex SEN. Both types of setting have a range of specialist expertise, facilities and equipment on site. 

The best place for your child depends on their needs, as written in their statement. A list of schools that provide specialist support for pupils in your area is available at: Educational Settings.

On this page you can also hear from families, pupils and school leaders about what it was like for them. Talk to your Link Officer or call SEND Central on 028 9031 7777 for advice.

No, not all children with a statement need transport help. It depends on your child's needs.

If your child has a statement and the EA’s Statutory Assessment & Review Service identifies that they have a special transport need, they will notify the EA’s Transport Service who will arrange transport for you. You do not need to apply.

Your child may have a special transport need if they:

• have difficulty walking longer distances
• use a wheelchair
• have a medical condition or severe learning difficulty that means they need help getting to school

Your child must also be attending their nearest suitable school. This means the closest school to your home that can meet your child's needs. If you choose a school further away, your child may not qualify for transport help.

The EA will decide what type of transport is provided, based on your child's needs.

If your child has a Statement and attends a mainstream school, but does not have a special transport need, you will need to apply for transport assistance yourself. Your application will be assessed against set criteria, including how far you live from the school.

If you need more information or want to check if your child is entitled to transport help visit: 

• Home to School Transport Information and FAQs
• Special Educational Needs (SEN) Transport Information and FAQs
• Check Transport Eligibility

If you have already created an EA Connect account for another EA process, such as applying for a school place, please access this existing account to begin your Statutory Assessment process.  You will see the Statutory Assessment tab once you log in.

If you do not already have an EA Connect account, you will need to register: EA Connect - Registration.

The email address registered will be used throughout the process for all communication on your request or referral.

If your request or referral was made before 12th January 2026, you will not be able to access updates on progress on EA Connect. Your Link Officer will be in touch with you to provide further updates. 

Your request can be edited and saved as a draft until you submit it. Once your request is submitted, you will not be able to make any further edits.  Please ensure that you check everything thoroughly before you submit, to ensure all details are accurate and correct. Any relevant documents must also be uploaded before you submit.

A parent can add any additional relevant documents in support of the request within the Parent Document upload area in EA Connect.

A parent can add any additional relevant documents in support of the request within the Parent Document upload area in EA Connect.

You can search the status of your request by logging into your EA Connect portal and navigating to the Statutory Assessment area. From here, you can search the Timeline, which will display the current status and progress.

You will be invited to your child's annual review meeting, along with:

• A representative from the Education Authority (EA)
• Your child's teachers
• The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator)
• Anyone else the school or EA thinks should attend e.g. medical professionals that treat your child.

The meeting will usually take place at your child's school. The principal, a senior teacher or SENCO will lead the discussion.

During the meeting, everyone will talk about:

• Your views – how you think your child has done this year and what you hope for them going forward
• Your child's views – how they feel about their progress and what they want to achieve
• The school's views – how teachers think your child has progressed and whether they have met their targets
• Any changes – whether anything important has changed in your child's life that might affect their learning
• The right support – whether your child is getting the help they need
• New targets – what goals your child should work towards next year
• Next steps – whether anyone needs to do anything else to support your child
• The Statement – whether it still reflects your child's needs, or whether any changes are needed

The SEN Link Officer uses information from the Annual Review meeting and advice from people like educational psychologists. They create a document called an Amendment Notice.

This is sent to you with a form to fill in. You need to confirm the final list of your school preferences at this point. You usually have 15 days to send back your choices.

The Education Authority (EA) will contact your preferred school, if they match what is recommended in your child's Statement.

If your preferred school is not suitable, or the school feels they cannot meet your child's needs, your SEN Link Officer will talk to you about other options and discuss with you the best way to get your child the support they need.

The Education Authority (EA) will let you know your child's school placement, usually by email.

After this, you will receive an Amended Statement with the school named in Part 4.

Each year EA help thousands of children with a statement find their new school place, every single child is looked at on their own. Your child is not just a number – we look at what they need and find the right school for them. 

Finding a school place for a child with a Statement can take longer than usual. This is because the Education Authority (EA) needs to find a school that can properly meet your child's needs. We know that this can be a worrying time but be assured we are working hard to find exactly the right school and support for your child. Your SEN Link Officer will keep you updated and let you know if there are any delays.

The EA is working with schools across Northern Ireland to make sure more schools have specialist places to support children with special educational needs. 

We want to make sure each child gets the right support, in a school that is right for them, as close to home as possible.

If you submitted a request for statutory assessment through EA Connect (after 12 January 2026), you can check how it is progressing by logging into EA Connect.

You can also contact your SEN Link Officer or SEND Central if you have any questions.

If a specialist setting or Special School is right for your child, this will be included in their Statement.

The Educational Psychologist may have already talked to you about this during their assessment.

If you have any questions about your child’s Statement or want to know more about your options, contact your SEN Link Officer.

We also have a dedicated SEND website with lots of helpful information on the different types of schools and support available visit:  Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

You can see a list of schools with specialist provision on the Specialist Provision in Mainstream Schools page.

This section also has stories from families, schools, and pupils about their experiences.