Documents can be found here:

• Circular: https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/409c5a03/Circular_0011-2026.pdf
• NCSE Appeal Guidelines: https://ncse.ie/set-allocation-reviews-2026
• All the hours: https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/services/allocation-of-teachers-to-schools/#primary

In this document you’ll find:

1. Summaries of the relevant circulars
2. Key Dates for 2026
3. Summary of SET Appeals
4. Apps and Websites to find clusters

What you need to know

Staff Schedule

Circular 0025/2026: 2026/27 Staffing Arrangements This circular outlines critical staffing, redeployment, and allocation processes for your primary school for the upcoming academic year.

Key Action Deadline: 28 April 2026 This is the primary deadline for several essential administrative actions. By this date, you must:

• Notify your Panel Operator of any permanent or fixed-term vacancies.
• Submit Main Redeployment Panel forms for any surplus permanent/CID holding teachers.
• Submit Form SET.Cluster2026/27 for your new Special Education Teacher clusters.
• Submit Staffing Appeals forms for the May board meeting.
• Apply for Projected Enrolment Posts.

SET Clustering & EAL Support All existing SET clusters will definitively cease at the end of the 2025/26 school year. You must re-cluster your part-time SET hours into full-time, 25-hour permanent posts. You may combine up to 10 Principal Release hours with SET hours to help form a shared post. Applications for English as an Additional Language (EAL) support will now be processed via a new online form (Prim-EAL), with details issuing after the Easter break.

Redeployment Updates You cannot commence recruitment for any permanent or suitable fixed-term vacancies until the Department confirms all surplus teachers on the Main Panels (published in late May) are redeployed. Crucially, a surplus permanent/CID teacher will now be retained in your own school if there is a suitable fixed-term position available for them, without needing to complete panel forms.

Mainstream Staffing & Appeals Mainstream posts are calculated at a 23:1 ratio based on your valid enrolments from 30 September 2025. If your school faces exceptional challenges (e.g., small school enrolment fluctuations, high EAL needs, or demographic growth severely impacting infant classes), you may appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board, provided you meet their strict criteria

Key Dates for 2026

Immediate Action

• Schools should check their mainstream staffing levels and verify if they are entitled to Administrative Principal and/or Administrative Deputy Principal status.

Mid-April 2026 (After the Easter Break)

• The Department will notify schools of the online link to access Form Prim-EAL 2026/27 to apply for English as an Additional Language (EAL) support.

28 April 2026 (Primary Deadline) This is the most critical date for schools to complete the following administrative tasks:

• Notify the relevant Panel Operator of any impending permanent and fixed-term vacancies.
• Return the Main Redeployment Panel Application Form for any surplus permanent/CID holding teachers.
• Submit Form SET.Cluster2026/27 to notify the Department of new Special Education Teacher (SET) cluster arrangements.
• Submit applications for the May meeting of the Primary Staffing Appeals Board.

After 28 April 2026

• Schools may submit applications for Projected Enrolment Posts.
• A Department-led clustering process will begin for any SET hours that schools have not yet clustered.

Within 5 Working Days (Ongoing)

• Any permanent or fixed-term vacancies that arise after the initial notification must be reported to the Panel Operator and Primary Allocations Section within five working days of the vacancy becoming known.

May, June, and October 2026

• The Primary Staffing Appeals Board will hold meetings during these months. The June and October meetings will also review EAL support appeals.

Late May 2026

• The Main Redeployment Panels will be published, allowing schools to begin appointing teachers to fill vacancies.

End of the 2025/26 School Year

• All existing SET clusters and Principal Release Day clusters will officially cease.

30 September (Annual Census Date)

• 30 September 2025: A school’s valid enrolment on this date dictates its mainstream staffing allocation for the 2026/27 school year.
• 30 September 2026: Validates projected enrolments for provisional posts.

1 October 2026

• The National School Annual Census becomes available on the Primary Online Database (POD) for schools to confirm their enrolments.

23 October 2026

• If a provisionally approved post is filled temporarily but is later required to redeploy a surplus permanent teacher, the temporary fixed-term contract must cease on this date.

Early November 2026

• First working day in November: Deadline to appoint a teacher from the Supplementary Panel if a provisional post is not required for surplus redeployment.
• 2 November 2026: The absolute latest date to fill a permanent post on a permanent basis; after this, it can only be filled on a fixed-term basis unless the appointee comes from the Main Panel.

December 2026 (Last Day of Term)

• The deadline for required pupil numbers to actually enrol if a school was granted a provisional projected enrolment post under Appeals Criterion C

Summary of NCSE Appeals Guidelines

(No real change from previous years)

The 2026/27 SET Allocation & Deployment Under Circulars 0011/2026 and 64/2024, your 2026/27 SET allocation was updated in March 2026. As principal, you must ensure these hours are deployed appropriately to support pupils with special educational needs (SEN), prioritizing those with the greatest level of need.

Applying for a Review If your school experiences unique or unanticipated circumstances causing a substantial impact, and you cannot meet pupil needs despite effectively managing your existing allocation, you can request a review.

Valid grounds for primary schools include:

• Significant, immediate local population changes (e.g., new housing developments).
• Major enrolment increases in developing schools.
• Significant local trauma impacting the community.
• A significant intake of high-needs pupils in Junior Infants to 2nd Class, or into 3rd Class for Senior Schools.

Reviews will not be granted for individual child support, school comparisons, standard changes in enrolment or newly identified needs, or large IPAS/Ukrainian enrolments (which have a separate process).

Application Process Applications must be submitted via the NCSE portal between April 13th and May 1st, 2026. You must demonstrate that your current resources are insufficient and that you have already sought relevant NCSE or NEPS support.

Review Format and Outcomes Reviews take place between April and June 2026. Schools with fewer than 200 pupils will undergo a desktop review, while schools with more than 200 pupils will have an in-school review. You will be required to provide teacher timetables and coded student support plans.

The NCSE panel’s decision is final. Potential outcomes include no change, recommended NCSE support/training, or a recommendation to the Department of Education and Youth for an allocation increase

Summary of the SET Circular:

The Special Education Teacher (SET) allocation for the 2026/27 school year provides primary schools with autonomous resources to support pupils with the greatest learning needs.

How Allocations are Calculated Your school’s unique educational profile is updated annually and is based on three pillars:

• Pillar 1: Enrolment Allocation, which is sourced directly from POD.
• Pillar 2: Educational Teaching Needs Profile, derived from your school’s literacy and numeracy STen scores (1, 2, 3, and 4). Crucially, exempt pupils should not be recorded under STen 1, as they are captured automatically.
• Pillar 3: Educational Disadvantage, calculated using the Pobal HP Index and POD pupil data.

The final SET allocation is the sum of these three pillars, rounded to the nearest 2.5 hours. To ensure fairness, Ukrainian/IPAS pupils are excluded from this calculation if your school already receives specific resources for having more than 10 such pupils enrolled.

Deployment and Reviews Principals have the autonomy to manage and deploy these teaching hours based on identified pupil needs, but must do so in accordance with Circular 0064/2024.

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Some Resources:

Find your Perfect SET Cluster Match

The excellent SET Cluster Finder

https://teacherbuilt.me/setclusterfinder/#

IPPN SET Cluster Finder

https://educationposts.ie/notice/sen?sortBy=date_posted&sortDir=0&county_id=

Follow these Social Media Accounts

• Anseo.net (this is my own channel) -> https://www.instagram.com/stories/anseodotnet/
• Trina Golden -> https://www.instagram.com/_fromtinyacorns_/
• Principal Templates -> https://www.instagram.com/principal_templates/