Coleraine Grammar School is a prestigious voluntary grammar school which opened on 1st September 2015. Coleraine Grammar School is a co-educational, 11-18, non-denominational school, building on the foundations provided by Coleraine High School and Coleraine Academical Institution, which offered excellent post-primary education in Coleraine for 150 years.

Coleraine Grammar School is initially operating on two campuses, the Lodge Road campus and the Castlerock Road campus. In September 2022, the new Year 8 pupils will be located on the Lodge Road.

Open Night

If Covid levels enable Open Night to take place, the Lodge Road campus will be open for visits by P6 pupils and parents on Wednesday 12th January 2022, and for P7 pupils and parents on Thursday 13th January 2022. If Covid levels do not enable Open Night to take place, information which would normally be provided at Open Night will be published on the school’s website and Facebook page in January/February 2022.

TO PARENTS/GUARDIANS naming Coleraine Grammar School as a preference on your child’s Transfer Form

Entrance Test Results

Please ensure that you provide the following information on Section C of your child’s Transfer Form.

• Your child’s score in the Common Entrance Assessment (CEA) provided by the Association for Quality Education (AQE). The CEA is the only assessment which will be used for the admissions process for Year 8 in September 2022.

• Your child’s score in the above assessment should be recorded as the two or three digit CEA score awarded to your child by AQE. (Pupils who achieve higher scores will be admitted before those who achieve lower scores in the admissions process).

• Your child’s AQE Candidate Number.

Non-Academic Criteria

Please ensure that you indicate on the Transfer Form which of the non-academic criteria your child meets. These criteria will be used in the event of a tie.

Special Circumstances and/or Special Provision

Special Circumstances

Special Circumstances are medical or other problems which may have affected a child’s performance in the CEA. The existence of Special Circumstances must be supported by independent documentary evidence of a medical or other appropriate nature. If a claim for the consideration of Special Circumstance is made in respect of matters for which Special Access arrangements were granted by AQE, the school will take into account the fact that the applicant was granted Special Access arrangements for those matters.

If your child was able to sit only one of the three AQE assessments and has been issued with a ‘raw score’ instead of a standardised age score, you should apply to Coleraine Grammar School for your child’s application to be considered under Special Circumstances and provide your child’s CEA ‘raw score’ to Coleraine Grammar School. You should also follow the below guidance about making a claim for Special Circumstances.

If you are making a claim for your child to be considered under Special Circumstances, please note that you are required to:

Complete Form SC21 obtainable from the AQE web site, or office and attach it to the Transfer Form when it is being submitted, with the following specific documentary evidence also attached.

• Should the problem be of a medical nature and of short term duration which affected the child only at the time of the CEA, the school will require the production of evidence that the child was examined by a medical practitioner in relation to the illness at the time of the assessment.

• Where the problem is of a non-medical nature the parents should set out in the Form SC21 precise details of the problem and append any appropriate independent evidence to corroborate its existence.

• Educational evidence such as the results obtained by the pupil in any standardised or other appropriate tests conducted in Key Stage 2 and an indication of where these results place him/her in his/her primary school class or year. An Admissions Sub-Committee of the Board of Governors will consider the application for Special Circumstances and where this is granted, the sub-committee will determine, on the basis of the information provided, an appropriate score for the child. He/she will then be considered with all other children who have received a CEA score.

• It is the absolute responsibility of the parent/carer making the application for Special Circumstances, in liaison with the pupil’s Primary School Principal, to ensure that all appropriate available educational evidence is provided.

Special Provision

Special Provision applies to:

• A child whose parent/guardian wishes him/her to be admitted to Year 8 from a primary school outside Northern Ireland.

• A child who has received more than half of his/her primary education outside Northern Ireland.

• A child entered for the CEA who because of unforeseen and serious medical or other problems, which are supported by appropriate independent documentary evidence, was unable to participate in the CEA.

If you are making a claim for your child to be considered under Special Provision, please note that you are required to:

• Complete Form SC21 obtainable from AQE and attach it to the Transfer Form when it is being submitted. You should state specifically which one or more of the above reasons make the applicant eligible for consideration under Special Provision. The parent may wish to include educational evidence such as the results obtained by the pupil in any standardised or other appropriate tests conducted in Key Stage 2 and an indication of where these results placed him/her in his/her primary school class or year.

The Admissions Sub-Committee will consider the application for Special Provision using the available evidence on or attached to the Transfer Form. It is the responsibility of the applicants to provide all of the above information, and to furnish relevant details.

If appropriate educational evidence for a Special Provision pupil does not exist, the Admissions Sub-Committee will, if possible, offer the pupil an opportunity to take an appropriate standardised test to help determine an AQE score.

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any Application Form/Transfer Form. This information may be requested from those whose applications have been successful on or shortly after Saturday 18th June 2022 when they have been notified of their allocation of a place at Coleraine Grammar School. The provision of false or incorrect information or the failure to provide verifying documents according to the required deadline may result in either the withdrawal of a place or the inability to offer a place.

Voluntary Contribution

Coleraine Grammar School has an annual parental contribution of £200 payable as £20 per month (x10) for the first child, with a 25% reduction for the second child and 50% reduction for the third child or subsequent child up to a maximum contribution per family of £45 per month (x10).

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR ENTRY INTO YEAR 8

Functions of the Board of Governors in Relation to Admissions to the School

In approving the admissions criteria, the Board of Governors has delegated responsibility for admissions to a sub-committee of the Board, which includes the Principal.

ADMISSIONS PROCESS and ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR YEAR 8 - SCHOOL YEAR 2022/2023

After consideration of claims for Special Circumstances and Special Provision, 156 places in Year 8 will be allocated to pupils on the basis of rank order of their respective scores in the Common Entrance Assessment (CEA) provided by the Association for Quality Education (AQE); those achieving higher scores being allocated places before those who have scored less. Parents are advised to record the score awarded by AQE, together with the AQE Candidate Number, in Section C of the Transfer Form, and attach the statement of result. If several pupils are eligible for the final place because they have equal scores, the place will be allocated by applying progressively the tie-breaker criteria which will be applied to each child solely on the basis of the information provided on, or attached to, the Transfer Form.

Tie Breaker Criteria

i. Children who, at the date of application, have a child of the family* currently enrolled at Coleraine Grammar School.

ii. Random selection: a numbered disc representing each child’s name will be placed in a ‘hat’, and an independent person will withdraw the required number of discs from the ‘hat’, under the observation of a second independent person and a school representative. Places will be allocated, and a waiting list will be formed according to the order in which the discs are withdrawn.

When considering which children should be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take into account information which is detailed on or attached to the Transfer Form. Parents should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admissions criteria is stated on the Transfer Form or attached to it.

In accordance with statutory requirements, when applying the admissions criteria, the Board of Governors sub-committee will select a pupil resident in Northern Ireland on 1st September 2022 before a pupil not resident at that date.

Number of Applications and Admissions

Year 2019/20

Admissions No. 156

Total Applications All Preferences 200

156

Year 2020/21

Admissions No. 156

Total Applications All Preferences 191

Total Admissions 156

Year 2021/22

Admissions No. 156

Total Applications All Preferences 204

Total Admissions 156

This table does not include children who were admitted to the school with a statement of special educational needs, or who gained a place on appeal or who gained a place by temporary variation.

* Please see page 29 of Department of Education Circular No. 2016/15 (Revised, issued 16/11/21) for guidance on the term ‘child of the family’.

For Admissions Criteria for entry to Years 9 – 12, please see our website (www.colerainegrammar.com) or contact the school for further information.

Transfer Test Preparation

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** This information is provided for guidance only and while the content is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate we cannot be held in any way responsible for any errors or omissions that it may contain. Please contact your LA or chosen grammar school for all admission and Transfer Test queries.**

NI Grammar School Admission criteria for September 2022 These details will be updated in January 2024.

Coleraine Grammar School

NI Grammar School Admission criteria for
September 2022
These details will be updated in January 2024.