NI post-primary schools to get more than 200 new pupil places

Nine post-primary schools in Belfast, Londonderry and north Down are to get extra places for new pupils for September 2022.

The Department of Education (DE) has created 234 additional places to cope with an expected rise in demand.

The number of pupils due to transfer to post-primary in 2022 is 24,264 compared to 21,732 in 2017.

That is an increase of almost 12% in the past five years.

The Department of Education (DE) had previously warned of "significant pressure" on post-primary places in some areas in 2022.

It had said there was likely to be particular pressure on Year 8 places in areas including Belfast, Foyle, south County Londonderry, Ballymena, Lagan Valley, Newry, north Down and Strangford.

As a result they had asked principals to apply for an increase in their pupil intake for 2022.

'May not create enough space'

The department has now decided to award nine schools extra first year places for September 2022.

In Belfast, Aquinas Grammar, Grosvenor Grammar, Our Lady and St Patrick's College Knock, St Malachy's College, Lagan College and Ashfield Girls High will have between 20 and 32 additional places.

In Derry, Lisneal College will receive 40 extra places.

In north Down, Bangor Academy - one of the largest schools in Northern Ireland - will get 40 extra places while St Columbanus College will have 20 additional places.

Some of the schools have received additional places for Year 8 pupils in previous years.

However, the department acknowledged that the increases may "not create enough space for all the additional children transferring in areas where there is oversubscription".

As a result, some schools may get more temporary extra places at a later date - a process known as temporary variation (TV).

The maximum number of pupils a school can admit every year is set by DE, but many more pupils want to go to some schools than there are places.

The department had previously approved additional places in a number of schools in 2020 and 2021.