Entrance Criteria 2024

COLERAINE GRAMMAR SCHOOL

23-33 Castlerock Road

Coleraine BT51 3LA

Telephone: 028 7034 4331

Lodge Road

Coleraine BT52 1LZ

Telephone: 028 7034 3178

E-Mail: info@colerainegrammar.com

Website: www.colerainegrammar.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/colerainegs

Principal: Dr DRJ Carruthers BSc PhD PGCE PQH(NI)

Chairperson of the Board of Governors: Mr W Oliver

Voluntary Grammar School

(Co-educational Non-denominational)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Age Range of pupils: 11-18 years 

Admissions No: 156

Enrolment Number: 1060

Coleraine Grammar School is a prestigious voluntary grammar school which opened on 1st September 2015. Coleraine Grammar School is a co-educational, 11-18, non-denominational school, building on the foundations provided by Coleraine High School and Coleraine Academical Institution, which offered excellent post-primary education in Coleraine for 150 years.

In September 2024 we are planning for the new Year 8 pupils and the whole school to be located on the Castlerock Road.

Open Night

Open Night will take place on the Castlerock Road campus for P7 pupils and parents on Thursday 25th January 2024 from 6.30pm to 9.00pm. 

The Headmaster will give information talks at 6.30pm, 7.30pm and 8.30pm on the evening.

TO PARENTS/GUARDIANS naming Coleraine  Grammar School as a preference on your child’s Application   Form/Transfer Form

Entrance Assessment Results

Please ensure that you provide the following information on your child’s Application Form/Transfer Form:

· Your child’s score* in the Entrance Assessment provided by the Schools’ Entrance Assessment Group (SEAG). The SEAG Entrance Assessment is the only assessment which will be used for the admissions process for Year 8 in September 2024 except for some Special Provision applications (see ** in the Special Provisions information).

·     Your child’s score in the above assessment should be recorded as the three-digit SEAG score awarded to your child by SEAG. (Pupils who achieve higher scores will be admitted before those who achieve lower scores in the admissions process).

·     Your child’s SEAG Candidate Number (UPN).

* ‘score’ means the Total Standardised Age Score (TSAS) provided by SEAG.  Further details about TSAS are available at http://seagni.co.uk/guidance-for-parents/faqs.

Non-Academic Criteria

Please ensure that you indicate on the Application Form/Transfer Form which of the non-academic criteria your child meets. These criteria will be used in the event of a tie for the final place.

Special Cases

There are two categories of Special Cases, Special Circumstances and Special Provision.

Special Circumstances

Special Circumstances are medical or other problems which may have affected a child’s performance in the SEAG Entrance Assessments. The existence of Special Circumstances must be supported by independent documentary evidence of a medical or other appropriate nature.  If a claim for the consideration of Special Circumstance is made in respect of matters for which Access Arrangements were granted by SEAG, the school will take into account the fact that the applicant was granted Access Arrangements for those matters.

‘Claiming Special Circumstances – A Guide for Parents and Carers’ is available on the school’s website at Claiming Special Circumstances – A Guide for Parents 2023-24 and is for guidance only.

If you are making a claim for your child to be considered under Special Circumstances, please note that you are required to:

Complete SC Form 2023-24, obtainable from the school’s website at SC Form 2023-24, and upload it to the Application Form/Transfer Form when it is being submitted, with the following specific documentary evidence also attached.

·     Should the problem be of a medical nature and of short-term duration which affected the child only at the time of the SEAG Entrance Assessments, the school will require the production of evidence that the child was examined by a medical practitioner in relation to the illness at the time of the assessment.

·     Where the problem is of a non-medical nature the parents should set out in the SC Form 2023-24 precise details of the problem and append any appropriate independent evidence to corroborate its existence.

·     Complete SC Form 2023-24 by providing educational evidence such as the results obtained by the pupil in any standardised or other appropriate tests conducted in Key Stage 2 and an indication of where these results place him/her in his/her primary school class or year among pupils who also sat the SEAG Entrance Assessments.

·     It is the absolute responsibility of the parent/carer making the application for Special Circumstances, in liaison with the pupil’s primary school principal, to ensure that all appropriate available educational evidence is provided, and that SC Form 2023-24 is completed fully.

·     The Admissions Sub-Committee of the Board of Governors will consider the application for Special Circumstances based on the evidence provided on the application, and where this is granted, the sub-committee will determine, on the basis of the information provided, an appropriate SEAG score for the child. He/she will then be considered with all other children who have received a SEAG score.

Special Provision

Special Provision applies to:

·     A child whose parent/guardian wishes him/her to be admitted to Year 8 from a primary school outside Northern Ireland.

·     A child who has received more than half of his/her primary education outside Northern Ireland.

·   A child entered for the SEAG Entrance Assessments who because of unforeseen and serious medical or other problems, which are supported by appropriate independent documentary evidence

          i.    was unable to participate in the SEAG Entrance Assessments or

                ii.     has an estimated outcome because they sat only one of the two SEAG Entrance Assessment papers.

‘Claiming Special Provision – A Guide for Parents and Carers’ is available on the school’s website at Claiming Special Provisions – A Guide for Parents 2023-24 and is for guidance only.

If you are making a claim for your child to be considered under Special Provision, please note that you are required to:

·     Use SP Form 2023-24, obtainable from the school’s website at SP Form 2023-24 to state specifically which one or more of the above reasons make the applicant eligible for consideration under Special Provision.

·     If possible, complete SP Form 2023-24 by providing educational evidence such as the results obtained by the pupil in any standardised or other appropriate tests conducted in Key Stage 2 and an indication of where these results place him/her in his/her primary school class or year among pupils who sat the SEAG Entrance Assessments.

·     Upload SP Form 2023-24 to the Application Form/Transfer Form when it is being submitted.

·    It is the absolute responsibility of the parent/carer making the application for Special Provision, in liaison with the pupil’s primary school principal, to ensure that, if possible, all appropriate available educational evidence is provided and that SP Form 2023-24 is completed fully.

·    The Admissions Sub-Committee of the Board of Governors will consider the application for Special Provision based on the evidence provided on the application, and where this is granted, the sub-committee will determine, on the basis of the information provided, an appropriate score for the child. He/she will then be considered with all other children who have received a SEAG score.

·     If appropriate educational evidence for a Special Provision pupil does not exist, the Admissions Sub-Committee will, if possible, offer the pupil an opportunity to take an appropriate standardised test** to help determine an appropriate SEAG score. He/she will then be considered with all other children who have received a SEAG score.

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any Application Form/Transfer Form. This information may be requested from those whose applications have been successful on or shortly after Saturday 18th May 2024 when they have been notified of their allocation of a place at Coleraine Grammar School. The provision of false or incorrect information or the failure to provide verifying documents according to the required deadline may result in either the withdrawal of a place or the inability to offer a place.

Voluntary Contribution

Coleraine Grammar School has an annual parental contribution of £290 payable as £29 per month (x10) for the first child, with a 25% reduction for the second child and 50% reduction for the third child or subsequent child up to a maximum contribution per family of £65 per month (x10).

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR ENTRY INTO YEAR 8

Functions of the Board of Governors in Relation to Admissions to the School

In approving the admissions criteria, the Board of Governors has delegated responsibility for admissions to a sub-committee of the Board, which includes the Headmaster.

ADMISSIONS PROCESS and ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR YEAR 8 - SCHOOL YEAR 2024/2025

After consideration of claims for Special Circumstances and Special Provision and determining any appropriate SEAG scores for SC and SP pupils, 156 places in Year 8 will be allocated to pupils on the basis of rank order of their respective SEAG scores.  Pupils achieving higher scores will be allocated places before pupils with lower scores. Parents are advised to record the score awarded by SEAG, together with the SEAG Candidate Number (UPN) on the Application Form/Transfer Form and upload the statement of result. If several pupils are eligible for the final place because they have equal scores, the place will be allocated by applying progressively the tie-breaker criteria which will be applied to each child solely on the basis of the information provided on or uploaded to the Application Form/Transfer Form.

Tie Breaker Criteria

1. Children who, at the date of application, have a child of the family*currently enrolled at Coleraine Grammar School.

*Please see page 30 of Department of Education Circular 2023/15 ‘The Procedure for Transfer from Primary to Post-Primary Education’ (issued on 23 October 2023) for guidance on the term ‘child of the family’.  Applications which state that the pupil is a ‘child of the family’ should state which of the eight categories of ‘child of the family’ given on page 30 of Department of Education Circular 2023/15 the pupil satisfies.

2. Random selection: a numbered disc representing each child’s name will be placed in a ‘hat’, and an independent person will withdraw the required number of discs from the ‘hat’, under the observation of a second independent person and a school representative.  Places will be allocated, and a waiting list will be formed according to the order in which the discs are withdrawn.

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

In accordance with statutory requirements, when applying the admissions criteria, the Board of Governors sub-committee will select a pupil resident in Northern Ireland on 1st September 2024 before a pupil not resident at that date.

This table does not include children who were admitted to the school with a statement of special educational needs, or who gained a place on appeal or who gained a place by temporary variation.

 Year Admissions No. Total Applications All Preferences Total Admissions

2020/21 156   191     156

2021/22 156   204     156

2022/23 156   169     156

2023/24 156   185     156

For Admissions Criteria for entry to Years 9 – 12, please see our website (www.colerainegrammar.com) or contact the school for further information.