Education Minister Paul Givan has confirmed there will be an additional 2,500 full-time pre-school places from September this year.
The DUP minister is working with over 100 schools beginning the process of moving from part time to full time ahead of the start of next year’s school year.
In all, 105 pre-schools will be involved in the initial process across all council areas and pre-school management types.
The Minister announced proposals for the major change in pre-school availability last year saying his plan was for “the largest expansion of pre-school provision in over 25 years”.
He committed to offering the families of all children aged three to four 22.5 hours of funded pre-school education a week. Currently six in ten children receive 12.5 hours a week while four in ten get 22.5 hours.
The Minister said: “I had previously indicated my intention to transition 100 pre-school settings to deliver 22.5 hours pre-school per week from September 2025. Having considered the requests made by pre-school settings and the feedback from the public consultation, I have now approved 105 settings to transition from September 2025.
“Providing this additional time in the day will allow the children to benefit from the rich play-based learning environment of the pre-school setting, allow pre-school staff more time to interact with and support young learners and also provide access to a funded school meal for eligible children.
“The longer session length also supports parents in their childcare arrangements, by providing a longer period of funded provision for their children each day.”
Pre-school settings do not need to take any action to be considered for the standardisation programme.
The full list of the 105 pre-school settings is available on the Department’s website at Minister’s Decisions on Pre-School Settings Requesting Transition from September 2025.
Last June the Minister said that all children would be entitled to attend pre-school “full-time” for 22.5 hours a week as part of a wider strategy for childcare and early years.
A Department of Education-commissioned study estimated that the long-term move to give all children 22.5 hours a week of pre-school will cost Stormont between £242m and £337m over the next decade.