Criteria for admission

ADMISSION CRITERIA FOR SEPTEMBER 2026

DETAILS OF THE RESPECTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND THE PRINCIPAL IN RELATION TO ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOL

The Board of Governors role is that of ratification of the principal’s application of the school’s admission criteria.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

During the admissions procedure when applying the criteria punctual applications will be considered before late applications are considered. The application procedure opens on 7 January 2026 at 12noon (GMT) and an application submitted by the closing date of 21 January 2026 at 12noon (GMT) will be treated as a punctual application. An application received after 12noon (GMT) on 21 January 2026 and up to 4 pm on 26 January 2026 will be treated as a late application, this is also the last date and time for processing a change of preference in exceptional circumstances. After 4 pm on 26 January 2026 no applications will be processed until after the close of procedure on 23 March 2026.

COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE

Any child who reaches their 4th Birthday on or before 1st July 2026 is of Compulsory School Age. Under the School Age (NI) Act which became law in Northern Ireland in April 2022, ‘compulsory school age’ also includes those children who deferred commencing Primary 1 in September 2025 as defined by the new School Age (NI) Act (both groups to be treated equally).

Priority will be given to children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission to the school before those who are not so resident.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA TO BE USED IN THE EVENT OF THE SCHOOL BEING OVERSUBSCRIBED. THE CRITERIA ARE LISTED IN ORDER OF PRIORITY.

Children who, at the date of their application, have a child of the family currently enrolled at the school.
Children who are an only child or the first child in the family. This includes those who are the first eligible child in a family to apply for admission to a mainstream school. *

Governors will consider the following as verification – child benefit letter, letter from GP, letter from Clergy/Solicitor*

Preference will be given to those children living nearest the school, measured as the straight-line distance from the school to the child’s home using the measurement tool on the NI Direct website.
Children will be admitted in age order from eldest to youngest until all places are filled.

When considering which children should be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take into account information which is detailed on the application or provided directly to the school. Parents should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admissions criteria is stated on the application or provided directly to the school.

DUTY TO VERIFY

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine necessary to support or verify any information on the application.

Evidence to verify address if required:

A utility bill/bank statement, with current address on it, dated within the last 6 months.

If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline specified by the Board of Governors, this will result in withdrawal of an offer of a place. Similarly, if information is supplied which appears to be false or misleading in any material way, the offer of a place will be withdrawn.

WAITING LIST

Should a vacancy arise after the closing date all applications for admission to P1 that were initially refused, new applications, late applications and applications where new information has been provided will be treated equally and the published criteria applied. This waiting list will be in place until the end of the academic year. The school will contact you in writing or by telephone if your child gains a place in the school by this method.

Your child’s name will be automatically added to the list. Please contact the school if you wish for your child’s name to be removed from the list.

ADMISSION TO P2 – P7

Pupils will be admitted to P2-P7 provided their admission does not lead to the enrolment number being exceeded. The same admissions criteria will be applied as for admission to P1.

APPLICATIONS & ADMISSIONS TO PRIMARY 1

Year	Total Applications	Total Admissions
2023/2024	4	4
2024/2025	9	9
*2025/2026	11	11

*The Total Admissions for year 2025/2026 includes all P1 children admitted to the school including those who have a statement of special educational needs and/or may be attending SPiMS.

(SPiMS = Specialist Provision in Mainstream School)