Education in Northern Ireland

The education system in Northern Ireland differs from elsewhere in the United Kingdom (although it is relatively similar to Wales), but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the national school system and serving a similar society with a relatively rural population. A child's age on 1 July determines the point of entry into the relevant stage of education in the region, whereas the relevant date in the Republic of Ireland is the school starting date, and the relevant date in England and Wales is 1 September.

Overview

As with the island of Ireland as a whole, Northern Ireland has one of the youngest populations in Europe and, among the four UK nations, it has the highest proportion of children aged under 16 years (21% in mid-2019).

In the 2021–2022 academic year, the region's school education system comprised 1,124 schools (of all types) and around 346,000 pupils, including:

796 primary schools with 172,000 pupils;
192 post-primary schools with 152,000 pupils;
126 non-grammar post-primary schools with 86,000 pupils;
66 grammar schools with 65,000 pupils;
94 nursery schools with 5,800 pupils;
39 special schools with 6,600 pupils (specifically for children with special educational needs); and
14 independent schools with 700 children.

Enrolments in further and higher education were as follows (in 2019–2020) before disruption to enrolments and classes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic:

six regional further education colleges with 132,000 students;
two universities – Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University – with 53,000 students;
two teacher training colleges – Stranmillis University College and St Mary's University College, Belfast – with 2,200 students;
the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise with 1,700 students on three campuses; and
the Open University with 4,200 students.

Statistics on education in Northern Ireland are published by the Department of Education and the Department for the Economy.

History

For the history prior to the partition of Ireland in the 1920s, see History of education in Ireland.

Administration

Education is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the government departments which are mainly responsible for education policy are assigned responsibilities according to the different levels of the education system. The Department of Education is responsible for pre-school, primary, post-primary and special education, youth work policy, the promotion of good community relations within and between schools, and teacher education and salaries. Further and higher education sits within the remit of the Department for the Economy and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs as young people and adults at that stage are either employed or being prepared for entering employment.

The Education Authority (EA) is responsible for ensuring that nursery, primary and post-primary education services are available to meet the needs of children and young people and for providing support for youth services. The authority was established in 2015 and its services, in relation to education, were previously delivered by the five education and library boards (ELBs) from the 1970s onwards and by county councils before that time. Each of the former ELBs is now a sub-region of the Education Authority:

{| class="wikitable"

! Sub region of the Education Authority

! Area covered

| 1.

|colspan=2| Belfast (formerly BELB)

|rowspan=5| 200px

| 2.

| North Eastern (formerly NEELB)

| Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Larne, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newtownabbey

| 3.

| South Eastern (formerly SEELB)

| Ards, Castlereagh, Down, Lisburn and North Down

| 4.

| Southern (formerly SELB)

| Armagh, Banbridge, Cookstown, Craigavon, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Newry and Mourne

| 5.

| Western (formerly WELB)

| Derry, Fermanagh, Limavady, Omagh, Strabane

Curriculum

The majority of examinations sat, and education plans followed, in Northern Irish schools are set by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment. All schools in Northern Ireland follow the Northern Ireland Curriculum which is based on the National Curriculum used in England and Wales. At age 11, on entering secondary education, all pupils study a broad base of subjects from the nine 'Areas of Learning': Language and Literacy, Mathematics and Numeracy, Modern Languages, The Arts, Environment and Society, Science and Technology, Learning for Life and Work, Physical Education, and Religious Education.

{| class="wikitable" width= 80% style="text-align:center; margin-left:1em;"

|+ Areas of Learning

!width="40%" | Area of Learning

!width="60%" | Compulsory subjects strands

| align="center" | Language and Literacy

|English, Irish, Media Education

| align="center" | Mathematics and Numeracy

|Mathematics, Financial Capability

| align="center" | Modern Languages

|An official language of the EU

| align="center" | The Arts

|Art and Design, Drama, Music

| align="center" | Environment and Society

|History, Geography

| align="center" | Science and Technology

|Science, Technology and Design

| align="center" | Learning for Life and Work

|Employability, Home Economics, Local and Global Citizenship, Personal Development

| align="center" | Physical Education

|Physical Education

| align="center" | Religious Education

|Religious Education

| align="center" | Non-compulsory subjects offered in some schools

|ICT A second official language of the European Union Arabic, Latin, Mandarin Chinese or another non-EU language

At age 14, pupils select which subjects to continue to study for General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations. Currently, it is compulsory to study English Language and Mathematics, although subjects such as English Literature, French, Learning for Life and Work, Religious Studies and Science (single-, double- or triple-award) may also be compulsory in certain schools. In addition, pupils usually choose to continue with other subjects and many study for eight or nine GCSEs, and possibly up to ten or eleven. GCSEs mark the end of compulsory education in Northern Ireland.

At age 16, some pupils stay at school and choose to study A-Level – AS and A2 – level subjects or more vocational qualifications such as Applied Advanced Levels; many also take up vocational courses at further education colleges on leaving school. Those choosing AS and A2 levels normally pick three or four subjects and success in these can determine acceptance into higher education courses at university.

Levels of education

Pre-primary education is optional in Northern Ireland with preschool stage for children aged 3 and 4. In some pre-schools, pupils can leave when they turn 4 and enter into an optional Reception class in their local primary school. (This is entirely optional in most schools which provide these classes.)

Primary education covers three stages – Foundation, Key Stage 1, and Key Stage 2.

Foundation Stage
Reception, age 4 (optional; see above note)
Primary 1, age 4 to 5 (equivalent to Reception in England and Wales)
Primary 2, age 5 to 6
Key Stage 1
Primary 3, age 6 to 7
Primary 4, age 7 to 8
Key Stage 2
Primary 5, age 8 to 9
Primary 6, age 9 to 10
Primary 7, age 10 to 11

Post-primary (or secondary) education covers up to three stages – Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, and Key Stage 5:

Key Stage 3
Year 8, age 11 to 12 (equivalent to Year 7 in England and Wales)
Year 9, age 12 to 13
Year 10, age 13 to 14
Key Stage 4
Year 11, age 14 to 15
Year 12, age 15 to 16 (including GCSE examinations)
Key Stage 5
Year 13, age 16 to 17 (including AS-level examinations)
Year 14, age 17 to 18 (including A-level A2 examinations)

Although the Department of Education uses Year 8 to Year 14 for post-primary education, the traditional First to Fifth Form, Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth are still used, at least informally, by some schools. Young people may continue their education at a post-primary school (often a grammar school) or at a further education college after Key Stage 4. A range of tertiary education qualifications are available through further education colleges, universities and other institutions, including at bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctorate levels.

Post-primary transfer

Most primary school children will transfer to non-grammar post-primary schools. However, issues around post-primary transfer and academic selection receive a high level of media coverage, as many parents regard a place for their child in a grammar school as a form of social mobility. In 2021–2022, 57% of young people in post-primary education (87,000 pupils) attended non-grammar schools and 43% attended grammar schools (65,000 pupils).

School sectors by ethos

Controlled

thumb|right|Tandragee Junior High School, a controlled school in County Armagh

Controlled schools are so-called as their governance is controlled by the state (e.g. through the Education Authority as the employer of teachers) although schools are managed by their board of governors, which include representatives of parents, teachers and transferor churches (who transferred their control of schools to the state in the mid-20th century). Controlled schools are open to children of all faiths and none.

Many controlled schools were originally church schools – under the management of the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Methodist Church in Ireland – whose control was transferred in the 1930s and 1940s in return for assurances that a Christian ethos would continue through collective worship (school assemblies), the teaching of non-denominational religious education, and representation of churches on boards of governors. The three churches have a role in education through the Transferor Representatives' Council (TRC) and nominate around 1,500 school governors to the boards of controlled schools. In a more recent development, controlled integrated schools are those which have opted for a formally integrated status and therefore form part of both the controlled and integrated schools sectors.

The Education Act 2014, which created the Education Authority in the following year, was accompanied by a commitment by the Education Minister and the Northern Ireland Executive to establish and fund a support body for schools in the controlled sector. The Controlled Schools' Support Council (CSSC) therefore became operational in 2016; its headquarters are in Stranmillis University College, Belfast. Membership of the council is voluntary and over 90% of controlled schools are members of the CSSC.

In 2021–2022, there were 379 primary schools, 63 nursery schools, 53 secondary (non-grammar) schools and 16 grammar schools in the controlled sector – a total of 511 schools. These included 24 controlled integrated primary schools, five secondary schools and one nursery school with controlled integrated status, and two Irish medium schools. Around 147,000 pupils attended controlled schools (including 8,000 in controlled integrated schools), representing approximately 42% of all pupils in Northern Ireland. In terms of religious breakdown, 59% of pupils in controlled schools were Protestant, 11% were Catholic, and 30% were from other backgrounds.

The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), a voluntary organisation, promotes, develops and supports integrated education, through the medium of English. The Integrated Education Fund (IEF) is a trust fund for the development and growth of integrated education in the region in response to parental demand. The IEF seeks to bridge the financial gap between starting integrated schools and securing full government funding and support. It was established in 1998 with funding from EU Structural Funds, the Department of Education, the Nuffield Foundation, and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. The IEF financially supports the establishment of new schools, the growth of existing schools, and those schools seeking to become integrated.

In 2021–2022, there were 38 grant-maintained integrated schools (23 primary and 15 post-primary) and 30 controlled integrated schools (24 primary, five post-primary and one nursery); all post-primary schools in the sector are non-grammar, however, three schools (Lagan College, Strangford College and Slemish College) accept a percentage of pupils based on grammar level ability (SEAG scoring). There were around 18,000 pupils in grant-maintained integrated schools and 8,000 pupils in controlled integrated schools, therefore around 26,000 pupils in 68 schools across the sector. The community backgrounds of pupils in grant-maintained integrated schools were 40% Catholic, 32% Protestant and 27% other, whereas the proportions for controlled integrated schools were 41% Protestant, 23% Catholic and 36% other.

Further and higher education

Northern Ireland provides a wide range of options for further and higher education through its universities, regional colleges (for further education), and other specialist colleges for teacher training and the agri-food sector. The Open University and regional colleges, in particular, enroll large numbers of adult learners. Many young people choose to travel to Great Britain to continue their education although this has, for many years, caused concern about a 'brain drain' effect and the difficulty in retaining skills and knowledge in the region's economy. The relatively low cost of living and higher quality of life in smaller and closer-knit communities, though, is an attraction for many students and graduates from Britain, the rest of Ireland and elsewhere.

In 2019–2020, the last year before disruption to school exams by the Covid-19 pandemic, 48% of school leavers in Northern Ireland entered higher education, 29% entered further education, 10% entered training, 9% entered employment, 3% became unemployed and the destination for a further 2% was unknown.

References

External links

Government organisations

Department of Education
Department for the Economy (further education policy)
Department for the Economy (higher education policy)
Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (education and research)
Education Authority
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment
Education and Training Inspectorate

Resources

Northern Ireland Curriculum
Shared Education
Northern Ireland Transfer Test (archived)

Support and advocacy organisations

Controlled Schools' Support Council
Transferor Representatives' Council
Council for Catholic Maintained Schools
Catholic Schools' Trustee Service
Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (for Irish-medium education)
Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta (Irish-medium education trust fund)
Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education
Integrated Education Fund
Governing Bodies Association (for voluntary grammar schools)

Universities and colleges

Queen's University Belfast
Ulster University
Further education (through regional colleges)
Stranmillis University College
St Mary's University College, Belfast
College for Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise
Open University in Northern Ireland