Details of new Northern Ireland transfer test revealed by exams body

Details of a new single, post-primary transfer test system for Northern Ireland have been announced.

The Schools' Entrance Assessment Group (SEAG) said the test will consist of two papers to be sat on two Saturdays, two weeks apart, in November 2023.

It says the dates set are 11 November and 25 November.

Each paper will feature English and mathematics questions, which will be presented as a mixture of a multiple choice and open questions.

It will cost £20 per pupil but will be free for pupils who claim free school meals, the SEAG group says, and Irish-language versions of the test will also be provided.

A total of 56 grammar schools have signed up to join the group, which was formed to try and set up a single common post-primary transfer test.

Two unofficial test systems have been run by two private companies since the state Eleven Plus exam was scrapped more than 10 years ago.

Currently children can sit up to five test papers if they enter both systems, set by PPTC for mainly Catholic grammars and the AQE for other grammars.

Talks began between PPTC and AQE in 2017 around producing a single test.

SEAG says the November 2022 tests run by the AQE and the PPTC will be the last before they are replaced by the new single test in November 2023.

For further information visit seagni.co.uk.

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