Northern Ireland school transfer without tests in 2021

This exploratory project will look at the effect of using non-academic selection criteria for admissions to grammar schools in Northern Ireland during COVID-19.  

Academic selection at age 11 is contentious, firstly because pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to gain entry to a grammar school, and secondly because research indicates that selective education at an early age increases educational and labour market inequalities. Northern Ireland typically operates academic selection throughout the nation. However, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the November 2020 transfer tests in Northern Ireland, forcing schools to base admissions for the 2021/22 school year on non-academic criteria. This unique context provides the research team the opportunity to look at the effect of these alternative criteria on the pupil intake during 2021/22.

The research will involve the following elements of work:

1. Analysing and comparing reported admissions criteria among 67 selective schools using documents from the Education Authority.
2. Comparing the demographic profile of the 2021/22 cohort to those from the previous five years.
3. Exploring differences in catchment areas to determine whether non-academic transfer criteria resulted in geographic changes to the cohort profile.

The important implications of selective admissions means this research will be of interest to pupils and parents, school leaders and teachers, elected representatives, and the Department of Education. The quantitative evidence provided by the project will also demonstrate the potential value of investigating this cohort’s future attainment, in order to inform the public and policy debates on academic selection in Northern Ireland.