Education Minister announces expansion of Pre-School education provision for Northern Ireland

Education Minister Paul Givan has announced that an additional 102 pre-school settings across Northern Ireland have been approved to offer full-time pre-school education from September 2026.

This is the second cohort of settings which have been approved to move to offering full time places under the Pre-school Standardisation programme.

The Minister made the announcement following a recent visit to Anahilt Pre-school Playgroup, one of the 102 settings approved to transition to the standardised 22.5 hours per week in September 2026.

Paul Givan said: “The Pre-school Standardisation Programme has already seen 105 settings successfully transition to full time sessions in September 2025. It is already making a difference to over 2,500 children and their families.

“Today's announcement is another step forward in my commitment to standardise all funded pre-school education provision to 22.5 hours per week.

“A further 102 settings have been approved to move to full time sessions from September 2026. This will mean that approximately 50% of pre-school provision, in every area of Northern Ireland, will be full time.

“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.”

Dara Graham, Preschool Leader at Anahilt Pre-school Playgroup, said: “I am absolutely delighted that our setting has been chosen to move to the full 22.5 hours. This is a fantastic step for our children and families, and we are so proud to be part of this next stage in early years provision. As a community-run, charitable preschool, we see every day how much early education matters, and this decision will allow us to offer even more stability, support and opportunities for our little ones.”

Paul Givan continued: “This investment in our pre-school sector clearly demonstrates the value that I place on early years education in Northern Ireland.”

The full list of the approved pre-school settings is available on the Department's website at: www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/ministers-decisions-pre-school-settings-requesting-transition-september-2026

Notes to editors:

This standardisation of pre-school settings formed part of a £55million package of measures from the NI Executive to support children, parents and providers with early learning and childcare in 2025/26.