Cumulative disadvantage in post-school plans and pathways among those identified with special educational needs in Irish primary schools

How do children with special educational needs (SEN) fare as they progress through and beyond second-level education? Research from other countries suggests that young people with SEN are more likely to leave school early and less likely to progress to higher education.

Internationally, experts have highlighted that childhood disability or SEN status has been largely overlooked in social stratification research, which studies how social mobility is affected by social structures like the education system. While education is often seen as a driver of social mobility, critical theorists argue that it reproduces existing inequalities.