1504. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Education and Youth the options or assistance available to a school (details supplied) to ensure that all pupils interested in participating in transition year can be accommodated. [26629/26]

As the Deputy will be aware, Transition Year is an optional programme at Senior Cycle in which schools have autonomy to develop their own programmes in line with the guidance provided in the Transition Year Programme Statement, which was published in September 2024 as part of senior cycle redevelopment.

The management authority of each school has responsibility for making decisions regarding the Transition Year programme in their school. This includes decisions related to the number of places available to students on programmes such as Transition Year, in line with the relevant admissions policy.

In cases where restrictions apply, schools should have clear procedures setting out how places are allocated to students.

A school may also have a formal complaints process, which should be followed in the making of any parental complaint. If a parent is of the view that a school's Board of Management has failed to investigate or inadequately investigated their complaint, it is open to them to raise the matter directly by corresponding with the Chairperson of the Board of Management.

The ambition of making access to Transition Year available to all students is reflected in the Programme for Government, which commits to expand the Transition Year programme by addressing barriers to participation. At present, nearly all post-primary schools offer Transition Year. In the current academic year, over 62,000 students are enrolled in Transition Year programmes, representing the fourth consecutive year of record enrolment.

Currently, the Transition Year programme is supported by the Transition Year Grant, which is paid on a per capita basis each year, in addition to regular capitation payments to all post-primary schools in the free education scheme. As part of the capitation package in Budget 2024, the rate of the Transition Year Grant was restored to the pre-2011 level of €100 per student in post-primary schools.

Officials in my Department are working to make universal access to Transition Year a reality by assessing the level of unmet demand for access, identifying the causes and determining how we can help schools to close those gaps. The Department has conducted a dedicated Transition Year survey of all post-primary schools as part of this work and has commenced a series of focus groups with students, parents, teachers and school leaders.

The Department’s analysis to date, including the survey responses from all schools, is aimed at achieving a deeper understanding of the complexity involved to identify the measures required to address issues at school level. These measures are not likely to be uniform in nature. However, the Department is determined to work with schools incrementally to realise universal access to Transition Year.