Northern Ireland parents are being urged to apply for pre-school and primary school places ahead of this week's deadline.
According to the Education Authority (EA), 20% of parents have still not registered their child for a place in pre-school or primary school in Northern Ireland with the deadline for applications approaching.
As of Monday, the EA has received over 34,800 applications which equates to about 80%, with around 20% outstanding.
Read more: How to apply for Northern Ireland school places for September 2023
The EA is asking all parents and guardians of children who are due to start pre-school or primary school in September 2023, who have not yet applied for a school place, to do so before the deadline of 12 noon this Friday, January 27.
Peter Canavan, EA’s Head of Pupil Admissions and Financial Support, said: “We want to ensure parents and guardians of all eligible children are aware of the deadline for receipt of applications of Friday 27 January at 12 noon and ensure that children are in the position of being considered for a place by the school of their choice.”
Parents can apply now via EA Connect, EA’s new unified customer portal which will host a number of important EA services, and is the home of the new pre-school and primary school online applications: https://connect.eani.org.uk/parent
Parents are advised that as this is a new system, they will be required to register a new account before beginning an application.
The EA is strongly urging all parents and guardians who haven’t already done so, to apply for a place ahead of the deadline. There is also an extensive list of guidance and resources available on the EA website to help parents through the application process: www.eani.org.uk/admissions
Parents can contact the EA Admissions Helpdesk on 028 9598 5595 or email preschooladmissions@eani.org.uk or primaryadmissions@eani.org.uk for further help and support.
Lines are open Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
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