Home › Support

You have the figure. What now?

An allocation is a staffing number for a school — it is not a decision about any individual child. Knowing the figure does not tell you what your child will receive, and this is where most questions begin.

What the number does and does not mean

• SET hours are allocated to the school, not to a child. The principal deploys them according to need, and no diagnosis is required to receive support.
• SNA posts cover care needs — mobility, safety, medical care — not teaching.
• The school is your first conversation. Ask the principal or the SET co-ordinator how the allocation is deployed and how your child's needs are recorded.
• Allocations can be reviewed. The NCSE operates an exceptional review process, and schools — not parents — make that application.

Where to get help — free and independent

Every organisation below is a public body or a non-profit. None of them pays us, none of them knows you visited, and this site captures nothing on this page.

• National Council for Special Education (NCSE)Publishes the allocations shown on this site, runs the Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) service, and handles review requests.
• Department of Education and YouthCirculars setting out how SET and SNA allocations are calculated and deployed.
• National Parents CouncilFree helpline and information service for parents of school-age children.
• Citizens InformationPlain-language explanations of entitlements, appeals and related supports, with a free phone service.
• AsIAmIreland's autism charity, with an information line for families navigating school supports.