End of Selection 'Correct' - SCOPE

Lords correct on selection

New figures put claim of grammar excellence on the bonfire

The House of Lords was right to vote for the ending of academic selection on Monday 10 July in the draft Education (Northern Ireland) Order. [1] New figures published in SCOPE show that many grammar schools are well below par in getting students through A levels.

“The claim of academic excellence by many grammar schools goes up in flames when we see how they are actually performing,” commented SCOPE.

“There are many reasons why selection must end. One is that it is a nasty form of social selection which discriminates against working class children. Another reason is that it is meaningless because children don’t fall into two neat groups at the age of 11. And a third is that many grammar schools are poaching children who do badly in the transfer tests because they simply cannot attract top pupils.

“But a new factor revealed by these statistics is that grammar schools as a whole are not promoting academic excellence as they claim.”

Martin McGuinness banned the publication of school performance statistics while he was Education Minister but SCOPE obtained figures for the four years 2002-2005 under the Freedom of Information Act.

They show that about 25 of Northern Ireland’s 70 grammar schools are doing very well academically. Last year three-quarters or more of their pupils got three or more grades A-C. Top of the list were Rathmore, Belfast, Our Lady’s, Newry, St Mary’s, Magherafelt and Assumption, Ballynahinch, all with success rates of 87-89%.

Behind them were Ballyclare High, Sullivan Upper, Holywood, St Michael’s Enniskillen and Lumen Christi, Derry, where 81-83% of students got three or more good grades at A level. Methodist College Belfast, St Dominic’s, Belfast and St Patrick’s, Armagh, were next with success rates of 80%.

Another substantial group of grammar schools was near the Northern Ireland average of 71%. However, the key finding is that a dozen grammar schools lagged well behind the norm last year. The worst were St Mary’s Belfast, where only 44% of students did well at A level, and Cambridge House, Ballymena and Dominican, Portstewart, where the figure was 48% - far behind the Northern Ireland average.

Just above them were Armagh Royal, Campbell, Belfast and Coleraine Academical, followed by Hunterhouse and St Malachy’s, both Belfast, and Antrim Grammar. Finally, Regent House, Newtownards, St Patrick’s, Downpatrick and RBAI (Inst), Belfast were 10 or more percentage points behind the average.

According to Scope, the case for selection gets a killer blow from these figures because it demolishes the myth that all grammar schools are about academic excellence. Some selective schools are doing well but it is clearly nonsense to refer to a ‘grammar school sector’ because some of them are turning in a poor academic performance.

Next steps?

One milestone was reached on 10 July when a majority in the House of Lords voted in favour of education reform in Northern Ireland.Opponents included seven peers who take the UUP whip and Baroness Paisley of St George's.

The next milestone is 24 November which is the deadline for the restoration of Stormont. If this date is missed and Direct Rule continues, academic selection will come to an end. However if government is devolved by this date, it becomesthe responsibility ofthe NI Assembly to decide the future of academic selection. As cross-community agreement will be necessary to end selection, NICVA and many others will be working hard to persuade Unionist MLAs and Ministers to change their minds.

See July-August SCOPE for more details.