Debate contribution: Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support

Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on 18 May 2026.

MLA

Dr Caoimhe Archibald

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

18 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5548955

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Like others, I welcome the campaigners to the Gallery. I commend Alma and all the other parents who fight every day for their children and young people and who have forced the issue up the agenda. I am happy to be here today to respond to the motion.

My party and I are committed to working to ensure that young people with special educational needs can access the pathway and support that they need. It is clear that the lead responsibility for supporting our young people with complex needs sits with the Department of Health, but I am happy to update Members on the work that I have undertaken in my Department since we published the findings of the review last June. We set out then proposals to enhance provision and support for our young people leaving school. As Diane Dodds said, most school-leavers with special educational needs move successfully from school into further education colleges and our skills for life and work training provision. A wide range of opportunity and support is already in place, with tailored courses, enhanced learning support, additional technology and other adjustments that can help young people to continue their learning and development. Sometimes, there is a misconception that young people leaving school need qualifications to join further education, but that is not the case. Pre-entry qualifications do not apply to those who are accessing discrete provision at colleges. However, as I indicated last June, there is not sufficient capacity to meet the growing demand and not all the pathways and choices are available across the entire region. Since September, my officials have been working with the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) on a whole-sector evaluation of the SEN-related arrangements across the further education colleges. It has been a major piece of work but a valuable one. Phase 1 focused on the arrangements, provision and support known as "discrete provision", which is primarily accessed by young people from special schools and specialist provision in mainstream schools. Phase 2 examined the arrangements for students with learning difficulties and disabilities throughout the mainstream college provision. The ETI work has finished. The report is being finalised, and a further education sector workshop is planned before the summer. That work will identify the good practice that we want to build on and the areas that we need to reform. It will be underpinned by the statutory assessment and support arrangements that I committed to bringing forward. A key part of ensuring that the further education experience meets the needs of our students is ensuring that our staff have the skills and confidence to support the young people studying with them. My skills fund has been used to support Ulster University to develop and commence the delivery of new training for our FE staff. There have been physical enhancements on some college sites too, including the installation of sensory pods on two sites, the replacement of a disabled access lift on one site and the development of two specialised learning support hubs. Of course, further education is just one of the key pathways; there are others. My officials have led the development of a cross-departmental bid for funding from the Executive's public-sector transformation fund. That collaborative bid is specifically focused on improving pathways and transitions for young people as they move on from school and into adulthood. It will enhance transition support across my Department and the Department of Health. It will allow us to develop and test post-school pathways, such as SEN and supported apprenticeships. That will build on the learning from excellent pilots that are already being supported through my Department's apprenticeship inclusion challenge fund and projects such as An Droichead, which is led by St Paul's High School in Bessbrook along with Bolster Community. The issue of better data sharing is raised frequently in the context of transitions between school and post-school destinations. A huge amount of information on a young person's support needs is gathered and retained at earlier stages of their life. We need to create smoother and more consistent ways to enable that to be shared in order to maximise the effectiveness of support for our learners. My Department has established a cross-departmental group to scope the information, expectations and requirements in relation to data sharing between key stakeholders. Other areas for progress include having better information on the educational pathways and destinations of our learners with special educational needs. We have a researcher from Loughborough University working with us on SEN-focused research using the longitudinal education outcomes (LEO) database. We also have an important scoping study under way to examine the economic and labour market implications of the rising number of young people with SEN. The gaps in the system not only impact on a young person in a vacuum but have a ripple effect on families, the wider economy and the health and justice systems.

As part of the careers action plan, we are taking forward two significant enhancements to careers provision for young people with special educational needs. We have launched an innovative new software tool to better support autistic learners in exploring pathways, planning transitions and accessing careers guidance. It is being tested in 10 post-primary schools and will later be rolled out across all post-primary schools and wider learning and skills settings. Ultimately, it will support around 17,000 learners each year. Another aspect of improving available and accessible information is the recent research by Professor Noel Purdy of Stranmillis University College. That research, which was supported by Epic Futures, included an interactive mapping tool detailing existing post-school opportunities for special-school-leavers across training, further education and day care or day opportunity provision. It is the first time that such a mapping exercise has been undertaken, and my officials are working with Stranmillis and Epic Futures to identify ways to further develop and sustain that tool as a valuable information resource for policymakers, families and providers. However, as I indicated in my June statement, my Department's actions alone will not meet the needs and aspirations of all school-leavers with SEN. While many young people with SEN aim to progress to skills- and training-based pathways after school, a very substantial number of school-leavers will never access provision funded by my Department. That is why the amendment to the motion is so important. Many young people with disabilities want and need to progress to Health-funded pathways, which are often day opportunities or day care. They feel that those options are the most suitable destinations to support them and meet their needs. Meeting the support needs and expectations of those young people and their families requires progress to be made by many Departments, but it is fair to say that those young people with complex needs, many of whom have been supported throughout their childhood by children's disability teams in health and social care settings, are looking to the Department of Health for support. They do not understand why the transition into adulthood changes their support and care when the nature of their disability has not changed. The families involved want a plan for their young people. Last September, at the Executive, all Ministers committed to providing regular updates to the Executive on progress being made to support school-leavers with SEN. I want to see the Executive work together to give school-leavers with special educational needs a legal right to an appropriate pathway, whether in an education-based or health-based setting. I remain willing to be part of Executive discussions on legislation in that area, but legislation must be matched by funded implementation plans, delivery capacity and clear accountability. Greater coordination is necessary across all services and settings that are involved in a young person's journey into adulthood. That is essential to delivering the service that our young people and their families deserve. It is not about a single programme or Department. It requires a genuinely coordinated, cross-government response that puts the needs of our young people and their families at its centre. In closing, I share some words that Alma asked me to read on her behalf. She has reflected that my Department's work:

"will provide a pathway for young people who can access further education, underpinned with the necessary legislative framework. However, we know that your Department can only go so far, and this is an issue that crosses more than one Department. Your Department has taken the first step and will cover a large portion of young people with SEN. Caleb and many others with complex needs leaving special school need a plan too. Sadly, we often feel that they are the invisible population with no voice. There is no system tracking their needs, and no one knows how many young people are sitting at home with no access to support or provision. I fear that, with no tracking, more and more of our population will disappear, slipping through the net. We need a lifelong care plan for those with complex needs. Disabilities do not disappear with age. Currently, there is no plan, no future and no hope. Our young people with complex needs are being left behind. We hope this Assembly will hear these words and understand that they need a plan to live and we, as parents and carers, need a plan to die."

While those are challenging and difficult words for us to hear, they should inspire us to work together to ensure that no young person is left behind.

1,578 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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