'Changing rooms being used as classrooms,' as special school pupil numbers rise

Bernie Davis, the principal of Park School, says class sizes are at or above recommended limits

The number of pupils in Northern Ireland's 40 special schools has risen by more than 1,000 in just five years.

One school principal has told BBC News NI that the increase has brought "significant challenges", including having to use changing rooms as classrooms.

Pupil numbers in special schools rose by 17% between 2020 and 2025, according to figures released by the Department of Education (DE).

The Education Authority (EA) has previously said that there is still a need for 6,000 more places in special schools.

But only one new special school - the Deanby centre in north Belfast with 69 pupils - has been opened in the past five years.

There have been repeated delays in providing school places for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in recent years.

The EA has created specialist provision classes in mainstream schools for children with SEN to try to address the shortage of places.

But Education Minister Paul Givan has said that about £1.7bn of capital funding for special educational needs is required, as special schools have reached capacity.

The precise rise in pupil numbers was revealed in an answer from DE to an assembly question from the Alliance MLA, Michelle Guy.

In the 2020/21 school year, there were 6,403 pupils in special schools in Northern Ireland but by the 2024/25 school year that had gone up to 7,462 pupils - a rise of about 17%.

The number of pupils at Park School in Belfast has gone up from 125 in 183 in five years.

Going from childhood to adulthood

Alma White is campaigning for new legislation to protect young people with special educational needs, like her son Caleb, beyond the age of 19

In June, pupils from the school won a UK-wide award for their film-making abilities.

Park School's principal Bernie Davis, though, said that the growth in numbers had brought "significant challenges".

"This increase is a testament to the strong confidence in the teaching, care, and outcomes delivered by the school," she said.

"However, class sizes are now at or beyond recommended limits.

"Specialist space such as changing rooms and shower facilities have been repurposed as classrooms, and staff rooms are increasingly used for teaching, reducing essential space for staff wellbeing and collaboration.

"The rise in pupil numbers has also placed considerable pressure on staffing, workload and resources."

She said the funding had "not consistently kept pace with this growth".

"The strain is beginning to impact the quality of provision and pupil wellbeing, as space, time and adult support become increasingly stretched," she said.

Alma White set up a campaign caused Caleb's Cause, named after her autistic son Caleb, in a bid to get the executive to change the level of support for the increasing number of school leavers with SEN.

Seventeen-year-old Caleb is due to leave his special school in just over a year.

Ms White told BBC News NI that she was "very concerned about the ability to provide any provision when these young children transition to adulthood".

"Early intervention is vital but what happens when these children grow up, which they will," she said.

"If school places are hard to find and there is an inability to cater for rising numbers it begs the question what happens at 19? Where do all these young people go?

"Many will require one-to-one support to access day opportunities, day centres are often full to capacity with young people only receiving two or three days if they are fortunate enough to do so."

She said there were no specialist colleges unlike in the UK so further education was "often not an option due to the level of support needed".

"Legislation pertaining to special school children is outdated and needs to be amended," she said.

"Without new laws in place departments will not collaborate to the extent needed, provision will not be available and once again our young people will continue to fall between the cracks."