Some children in NI still waiting for post-primary school place

More than 40 children are still waiting for a post-primary school place to be confirmed for the start of the new 2021-22 school year.

That is according to figures from the Education Authority (EA).

The number of families appealing against post-primary schools who did not offer their children a year eight place rose significantly in 2021.

More than 800 appeals were submitted by families of which about 650 led to appeal tribunal hearings this summer.

The EA said that of 652 post-primary appeal hearings, 125 - about 20% - had been decided in favour of parents of pupils.

For the first time in decades grammar schools did not use transfer tests to decide which pupils to admit in 2021.

The vast majority of grammars used other criteria to admit new pupils after the transfer tests were cancelled by the two separate test providers.

Those included criteria like whether a child applying for a place had a brother or sister already at the school or had gone to a feeder primary school.

'Places available for every child'

That was the main reason why more families than usual appealed the decision of post-primary schools not to admit their children to year eight.

However, appeals can be made against decisions by both selective and non-selective schools.

About 20% of appeals have been decided in favour of parents of pupils, says the Education Authority

Families can only appeal if they think the school has not applied its admissions criteria correctly, not because they disagree with the school's decision alone.

While the EA facilitates the appeals process, the three members of each appeals tribunal panel are independent and are not EA employees.

The EA said that there were school places available for every child and that, as of Tuesday, about 23,500 pupils had received a place in a post-primary school.

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"We are actively communicating and working with families of young people yet to be placed to explore options and support them in selecting a school," the EA said.

"As of 31 August, 43 young people have yet to secure a place, including a number of applications that were received after the admissions deadline.

"EA is responsible for administering the admissions process, however the admissions criteria is set by schools themselves who also manage their own waiting lists.

"In cases where children who have yet to be placed in a school and where parents have not yet nominated a school, EA has again written out to parents to remind parents of their parental responsibility to nominate a school."