National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS)

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is the psychological service of the Department of Education and provides educational psychological support to primary, post-primary and special schools in Ireland.

Each psychologist is assigned to a group of schools. The NEPS Model of Service includes a Casework Service for individual children and young people and a Support & Development Service for school staff.

The focus of the NEPS Casework Service is to use a consultative, problem-solving approach to promote better understanding of the child or young person’s strengths and needs, to suggest interventions that may be helpful to include in the Student Support Plan, and to assist schools to implement, monitor and review those interventions. This work is done in partnership with school staff, parents and the child or young person themselves.

The focus of the NEPS Support & Development Service is to help enhance school systems, to maximise a whole-school approach to creating school environments that are inclusive, flexible and responsive to the needs of all and to build school capability to provide evidence-informed prevention and early intervention support as part of the Continuum of Support framework. This work also includes supporting schools to respond to Critical Incidents.

Watch our videos about the NEPS service:

The focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose needs range from mild to severe and transient to enduring. NEPS encourages schools to implement a Continuum of Support with each school taking responsibility for providing universal and preventative approaches, as well as early assessment, educational planning and intervention for pupils with need. Teachers may consult their NEPS psychologist should they wish to at this stage in the process.

A child or young person who has not made reasonable progress following a school's best efforts in consultation with NEPS, may be prioritised for access to the NEPS casework service by the school. This system allows psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and to help many more children indirectly than could be seen individually.

This process has been advised and communicated to schools in the following guidelines and resource materials:

Information for Primary Schools

Special Education Needs - A Continuum of Support

Behavioural Emotional and Social Difficulties – A Continuum of Support

Information for Post-primary Schools

Special Education Needs - A Continuum of Support

Student Support File

What to do if you think your child needs to be seen by a NEPS Psychologist

You need to begin by discussing your child's needs with the class teacher or school principal. Not every child needs to meet the psychologist in person. Each school makes referrals to their NEPS psychologist who helps the school to plan the work.

If your school arranges an assessment through NEPS there is no charge for this service.

You will find more information in our parents leaflet:

The Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments (SCPA) is provided by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) to help in the delivery of a psychological service to all schools.

The scheme is not a substitute for a full educational psychological service of the sort provided by NEPS. It is an interim measure intended to supplement the NEPS service and meet current urgent needs for psychological assessment of children and young people.

All SCPA assessments must be sanctioned in advance by a NEPS psychologist or by the local NEPS Regional Director. Only psychologists listed in the current SCPA panel are eligible to carry out work under the SCPA scheme. The operation of the scheme is reviewed on an ongoing basis by NEPS.

When a SCPA assessment is satisfactorily completed and the report furnished to parents and school authorities, it should be completed by the engaged psychologist and the principal of the school, and forwarded for payment to:

SCPA Guidelines and Relevant Documents

What to do in the event of a critical incident

NEPS provides assistance to all schools that experience critical incidents, including those that may not have an assigned NEPS psychologist.

A critical incident is a situation that overwhelms the normal coping capacity of the school. The types of critical incidents experienced by schools range from the death of a member of the school community through illness, suicide or accidental death to physical assaults or serious damage to school property.

How to request support for a critical incident

NEPS respond to critical incidents on request from affected schools. School authorities seeking support should contact their Item was unpublished or removed during working hours, Monday-Friday.

Responding to critical incidents

Critical incident templates for schools:

Key documents for parents:

Critical Incident Preparation and Planning

Critical Incident Preparation and Planning - Slides for Sharing at Staff Meeting

• National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) Resources and Publications
• National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) Guidelines, Tips and Handouts for Parents and Teachers

Information for schools – Ukraine

Wellbeing in Education

SSE Six Step Process

Counselling in Primary Schools-Pilot (CPS-P) 2023-2025