Number of school children on reduced timetables rises by a fifth

Guidelines on reduced timetables were first issued by the Department of Education in 2022, and schools are now required to inform the department when such an arrangement has been approved. File picture

More than 1,200 students were placed on shorter school days last year, with students who have additional needs making up almost two-thirds of that number.

New figures for the 2023/24 school year, the most recent to be collated and published, show 1,275 children were placed on reduced timetables that year. It marks a 20% increase on the prior school year, when almost 1,050 students were placed on reduced school days.