Key structures of the Northern Ireland Education System

The structure of the education system in NI is complex, with 10 Statutory Bodies involved in the management and administration of the system, including:

• The Department of Education (DE)
• The Education and Library Boards (Belfast, North-Eastern, South-Eastern, Southern and Western)
• The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS)
• The Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA)
• The Staff Commission for the Education and Library Boards
• The Youth Council for Northern Ireland

There are also a number of voluntary bodies which play a significant role in the administration of the education system, including: 

• The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education
• Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta (the council for Irish-medium schools)
• The Transferor Representatives' Council, which brings together representatives of the Transferor Churches (Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist)
• The Association of Governing Bodies which represents the voluntary grammar schools
  

The Department of Education

The DE is responsible for the central administration of education and related services in NI. Its primary duties are to promote the education of young people of NI and to ensure the effective execution of its policy in relation to the provision of the education service.

Education and Library Boards

In NI, educational services are administered by regional education bodies known as Education and Library Boards (ELBs). There are five of these and their function is similar to that carried out by Local Education Authorities (LEA's) in England and Wales. They are funded by the DE. The ELBs:

• Provide milk and meals, free books and transport for pupils
• Enforce school attendance 
• Provide a curriculum advisory and support service to all schools in their area
• Regulate the employment of children and young people and secure the provision of youth service facilities
• Secure the provision of recreation services
• Award university and other scholarships
• Are responsible for the appointment of staff in controlled schools

School types

Until 1989 NI had only two basic categories of school: controlled schools (managed by the ELB for the area) and voluntary schools (owned and managed by trustees, normally the local churches). 

There are two types of voluntary school: voluntary maintained (including voluntary primary and secondary schools) and voluntary grammar (which are permitted to select pupils on the basis of ability). 

The majority of voluntary maintained schools are controlled by the Catholic Church. In order to facilitate the management of these schools the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 transferred responsibility for all Catholic maintained schools to a statutory body, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS). 

The CCMS exercises certain responsibilities in relation to Catholic maintained schools, including providing advice in matters relating to this sector and the employment of teaching staff.

The 1989 Order also introduced a new category of schools, the integrated school, whose primary focus is to provide a religiously mixed environment capable of attracting reasonable numbers of both Catholic and Protestant pupils. Managed by a Board of Governors, there has been a steady increase in the numbers of these schools. The total number of schools in 2005 is given in Table 1.

Table 1: The number of schools in NI by school type

Significant features of the Northern Ireland system

NI's school system is distinctive from the rest of the UK in a number of ways: 

1) Religious division

Currently more than half the children in NI attend Catholic schools. Some Catholic children attend non-Catholic schools and a very small minority of non-Catholic children attend Catholic schools. Many people in NI hope that more religiously integrated schools will develop as NI moves towards a less socially divided society. 
 
2) The Transfer Test (11+)

A grammar-secondary divide is still prevalent in NI. At the age of eleven, pupils can undertake an aptitude test (the 11+) is used to determine which children will attend grammar schools. This system is to be abolished in 2008 and schools will no longer be able to select pupils on the basis of academic ability at the age of 11 years.

3) School starting age

In NI the school starting age is four (compared to five in England and Wales), with nursery provision offered to three-year-olds.

4) Irish-medium schools

Irish-medium schools are peculiar to NI. In these schools, children are taught through Irish in more than half the compulsory subjects (excluding English).

Science technicians

Most secondary schools in NI provide a science technician, with the bigger schools of 1000 pupils+ allocating three technicians for the separate sciences. Provision of technical assistance is not statutory.