Selection in Northern Ireland: from 1947 Act to 1989 Order

Abstract

Alone of the regions of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has retained a selective system of secondary education for the great majority of pupils. In setting up such a system in the 1940s, the Ministry of Education's professed intention was that all children capable of benefiting from a grammar school education should, regardless of parental income, have access to such a school. Two criteria for evaluating the selective system on its own terms are, therefore, social justice and accuracy in identifying able pupils at age 11 and it is on these terms that it is judged here.

The article draws on government statistics and research findings from a period of nearly 40 years, and in particular on investigations by the Northern Ireland Council for Educational Research (NICER). These include a longitudinal study of some 3000 pupils between the ages of 12 and 18, who transferred in 1975 and an assessment of the predictive accuracy of the ‘Transfer grades’ awarded to a l‐in‐15 sample of the pupils who transferred in 1981. NICER also analysed the intakes to post‐primary schools between 1981 and 1985 and made a study of border‐band pupils to find out the consequences of being placed in a grammar or secondary school.

The more recent forms of selection show no increase in accuracy over those of the early 1950s. All the research studies that used performance in later public examinations as a criterion suggest that between one‐in‐five and one‐in‐seven of the pupils are ‘misplaced’ by selection at the age of 11. The social fairness of selection received little attention in Northern Ireland in the early years, but in the 1970s and 1980s transfer was found to be socially biased in that, even if they had similar scores in the 11+ tests, working‐class children were less likely than middle‐class children to be admitted to grammar schools. Questions are also raised concerning the fairness of the Transfer Procedure for girls and the adequacy of provision for Catholic pupils.

In October 1988, it was announced that, once the National Curriculum for Northern Ireland is established, selection will be based on pupils’ records of achievement including their scores on the new attainment tests and that there will be a greater element of parental choice than heretofore. Though the secondary system will remain selective, its nature will change and so this is a good time for stocktaking.

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Notes on contributors

Anne E. Sutherland

Anne E. Sutherland is Research Officer with the Northern Ireland Council for Educational Research