Grammar schools delay opening transfer test applications The AQE has said its assessments will go ahead this year
A GROUP of grammar schools planning to host entrance exams this year is to delay opening applications.
The Association for Quality Education (AQE) said its schools intended to initiate preparations for proceeding with the Common Entrance Assessment.
However, it has told parents they can not yet register their children.
All exams were cancelled for P7 pupils due to considerable disruption to their education.
There have been calls to abandon them for a second year because P6s have faced significant upheaval.
They only returned to classrooms in March for the first time since December.
Omagh and Enniskillen grammar schools scrap academic selection next year Mount Lourdes Grammar School in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. Picture by Gerry Knight 24 April, 2021 01:00
Omagh Christian Brothers Grammar School
MORE grammar schools in Northern Ireland have announced they will scrap academic selection for 2022.
Christian Brothers Grammar in Omagh, Co Tyrone, and Mount Lourdes Grammar and St Michael s College in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, have said they will rule out the use of transfer tests due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
St Mary s Christian Brothers Grammar School in west Belfast abandoned the use of transfer tests last month.
Some grammar schools in Derry, Newry, Kilkeel and Belfast have also ruled out using transfer tests this autumn.
Covid-19: Omagh and Enniskillen schools scrap academic selection in 2022
Published
More grammar schools in Northern Ireland have announced they will scrap academic selection for 2022.
Christian Brothers Grammar in Omagh, County Tyrone, and Mount Lourdes Grammar and St Michael s College in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, are the latest to rule out transfer tests.
The three Catholic schools said it was due to the impact of the pandemic.
St Mary s Christian Brothers Grammar School in west Belfast was the first to abandon transfer tests last month.
Some grammar schools in Londonderry, Newry, Kilkeel and Belfast have also ruled out transfer tests this autumn.
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BBC News
By Robbie Meredith
Published
A west Belfast grammar school has become the first to abandon academic selection for 2022.
In a statement to BBC News NI, the governors of St Mary s Christian Brothers Grammar School said they would not take part in transfer tests this autumn.
The governors said this was due to the unprecedented mental and emotional stresses faced by Primary 6 children.
St Mary s is an all-boys grammar on Belfast s Glen Road.
It has more than 1,100 pupils and admits about 180 young people every year.
In previous years, it has used the transfer tests run by the Post-Primary Transfer Consortium (PPTC) to select pupils.