* Northern Ireland

education system

The education system in Northern Ireland (NI) has

some important differences to the one in England
and Wales. For example, religion still plays a large
part and there are no Sats.
* Northern Ireland – key
differences in education
• While the school year in NI also starts
in September, the child’s age on 1 July
(rather than 1 September, as in
England and Wales) determines when
they start school and what school year
they are in. As elsewhere, children
start primary school at 4+ and move on
to secondary school at 11+.
• NI schools name their year groups
differently, with 4/5 year olds in year
1 rather than reception, and 11 year
olds starting secondary school in year 8
rather than year 7. Many schools still
use the old system informally, calling
the first year of secondary school form
one, and the two A level years the
sixth form. 
 * Key differences in
education
• The earliest a child can leave school in NI is at the end of the
June following their 16th birthday, so a child born on 1 July
would not be able to leave school until the end of the
following June when they would be nearly 17 years old.
• The NI curriculum is based on the national curriculum used in
England and Wales, but with no Sats. All take GCSEs and have
the choice between A levels or the more vocationally centred
applied advanced level exams or BTecs. No schools in NI teach
the IB.
• Half term holidays may be less than a week long, and most NI
schools do not have a half term holiday at all in the summer
term.  The Christmas and Easter holidays are often less than
two weeks but summer holidays usually last for the whole of
July and August.
*Types of school in
Northern Ireland
 *The role of religion
* Religion still plays a large part in the education
system in NI. Although integrated education is
expanding and the Northern Ireland Council for
Integrated Education (NICIE) has been set up to
accelerate this, Protestants and Catholics are
largely educated separately, particularly in the
non-selective schools
*Controlled schools
* Nearly half of NI schools are controlled schools.
They are open to all faiths and none, but about
two-thirds of pupils are Protestant. Many were
originally Protestant church schools and the three
largest Protestant churches (Presbyterian, Church
of Ireland and Methodist), known as the
transferors, have representatives on the boards of
governors of all but nurseries, grammar schools
and special schools. These governing boards are in
charge of the management of the schools, but the
education authority is responsible for employing
staff.
*Voluntary controlled schools
* Voluntary controlled schools are
entirely funded by the state and run
by a board of governors; for
voluntary aided schools a foundation
or trust – generally religious –
contributes to the building costs,
appoints most of the governors and
has a substantial influence in running
the school.
*Catholic maintained schools
* Catholic maintained schools,
which educate about a third
of NI pupils, are managed by
boards of governors nominated
by (mainly Roman Catholic)
trustees plus parents,
teachers and representatives
from the education authority.
The Council for Catholic
Maintained Schools is
responsible for managing this
sector and employing
teachers.
 *Integrated schools
Integrated schools are not secular but are essentially Christian in
character and welcome all faiths and none. These may be grant
maintained – with the governors responsible for managing the
school and employing staff – or controlled, with the education
authority employing staff.
 *Voluntary grammars
* Voluntary grammars – are state funded but are
managed by boards of governors who are
responsible for employing staff. Voluntary A
grammars get capital grants from the
education authority and charge little or no
fees; Voluntary B grammars, which do not get
capital grants and have greater autonomy, are
allowed to charge fees.
Grammar schools
* Some political parties in Northern
Ireland would like to end academic
selection in favour of
neighbourhood-
based comprehensives but at the
moment the grammar school system
is alive and well. They tend to be
less segregated than secondary
schools but a fair number are either
controlled by the state (Protestant)
or maintained by the Catholic
church.
* Entry to the grammar schools is via
the 11+ transfer test
*Northern Ireland transfer
test
* Entrance to the grammar
schools is via an 11+ exam
known as the transfer test,
which has no catchment
areas. There are two types
of test – the AQE and the
PPTC – both of which use a
combination of maths and
English tests. Most schools
use one or the other, so it
important for applicants to
sit the correct test