The Northern Ireland Council for Educational Research

Selection in Northern Ireland: from 1947 Act to 1989 Order

“…It was observed, however, that only 1.3 per cent of the students in further education colleges in 1979-80 gained more than six O-level equivalent points, as compared with 9.1 per cent from secondary intermediate schools (Wilson, 1982). Though some pupils from other school systems had transferred to further education colleges, those from junior high schools formed the majority and it is therefore evident that the pupils who were not selected in the Craigavon area had a poorer chance than any other group in the sample of later examination success.…”

“…The main criterion at age 16 was a weighte index of O-level equivalents (3 for an A, 2 for a B and 1 for a C or a grade 1 CSE, with no credit given for CSE grades 2 to 5). Perhaps this restriction had a lowering effect on the correlation between Selection Procedure mark and criterion (0.65); a more important finding, however, was that performance at 16 was predicted better by performance in the first (1956( -1958( ) (ACE, 1960 1962 Cohort (Wilson, 1969) 1975Cohortt (Wilson, 1982) year of secondary education (0.72) and slightly better by verbal reasoning at age 12 (0.68) than by the Selection Procedure.…”

“…However, the success rate of Review Qualified pupils from unreorganized elementary schools (76 per cent), who were mainly in rural areas, equalled that of the 11+ qualifiers, suggesting that able pupils were being overlooked in the initial examination. 1975 Cohort (Wilson, 1982) 1981 Cohort (Gallagher, 1988) During the time of the Selection Procedure NICER charted the progress between the ages of 12 and 18 of a cohort of some 3000 pupils who entered secondary education in 1975. The sample of ten grammar, ten secondary intermediate, five bilateral/ comprehensive and six junior high schools was chosen to give adequate representation to alternative forms of secondary education, rather than to reflect the composition of the population.…”