The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

Admission criteria

16.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Article the Board of Governors of each grant-aided school shall draw up, and may from time to time amend, the criteria to be applied in selecting children for admission to the school under Article 13 or (in the case of a grammar school) Article 14.

(2) When drawing up or amending criteria under this Article—

(a) the Board of Governors of a controlled school shall consider any representations made to it by the board responsible for the management of the school;

(b) the Board of Governors of a Catholic maintained school shall consider any representations made to it by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools.

(3) Where the criteria to be applied in respect of any school year have been published under Article 17(2), the Board of Governors shall not amend those criteria in respect of that school year without the approval of the Department.

(4) The criteria drawn up by the Board of Governors of a school under paragraph (1) shall provide for all children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission to the school to be selected for admission to the school before any child not so resident may be selected for admission.

(5) The criteria drawn up under paragraph (1) shall be such as to ensure that the Board of Governors by applying those criteria can comply with Article 13 or (in the case of a grammar school) Article 14 before the criteria are exhausted.

(6) The criteria drawn up under paragraph (1) and to be applied in selecting—

(a) children for admission to a secondary school, other than a grammar school; or

(b) children in the relevant age group for admission to a grammar school,

shall not include the performance of the children in any test or examination held by, or on behalf of, the Board of Governors of a secondary school.

(7) Paragraph (6) does not apply to a test or examination—

(a) of an individual child of a description determined by the Department which is held by a board at the request of the Board of Governors of a grammar school; or

(b) which is held by, or on behalf of, the Board of Governors of a secondary school specified by the Department for the purposes of this sub-paragraph.

(8) The criteria drawn up under paragraph (1) by the Board of Governors of a school shall not include the fact that the school was the first preference expressed by the parent of the child or was a higher preference than any other school or schools.

(9) Regulations may provide, in relation to any school or description of school—

(a) that the criteria drawn up under paragraph (1) shall include such matters or matters of such description as are specified in the regulations;

(b) that those criteria shall not include such matters or of such description as may be so specified.