School system in Northern Ireland (Belfast)

[amahlert]

Hi, my family and I are considering relocating from the US to Belfast.
I really have no idea how the NI school system works.
I have 2 kids. One is 9 yrs old, 3rd grade, one is 12 yrs old, 6th grade (US system).
What is the difference between primary, grammar, and secondary school?
How would my kids grades translate into the NI system?
While my kids are catholic on paper, we are non-religous, and open to any good school.
Also, I have been reading about catholic, protestant, and integrated schools. Are those all public (free) or private? Are the public schools good? How much is the average tuition it they are private?
And last but not least, one of my kids is bi-racial (half black). Will that be an issue? I found several news articles talking about recent attacks on foreigners.
We would like to live in Belfast, close to the university.

Thanks!

I have a relative who attends Victoria College, which is an all girl grammar. It seems very diverse, she has friends from all backgrounds. So while NI as a whole isn't very diverse, it is getting better, and Belfast will be more diverse than more rural areas.

There are certain areas in Belfast I would never live, but then that is true of any city. The trouble that makes the media is very much confined to certain areas. That is not what all of Belfast is like. And I don't think your daughter has any more chance of being attacked in Belfast than in any other city.

Yes the laws and level of religious involvement in general are backward, but in general I enjoy living here. Many people enjoy a peaceful life.

I hear good things about Wellington and Lagan college, and will be considering them for my DC when the time comes, though that is a bit off yet. We live about 20 miles south of Belfast and there aren't many secondary schools near us, so they will face a long travel to school regardless.

Didn't realise grammar schools were charging now. The one I attended certainly didn't.

www.belb.org.uk › oetransferbooklet

A link to a 2014 secondary school transfer booklet, the current EA system hasn't changed much, more the admin side.

Sorry link not working, it was to a pdf file. I think I googled "Belfast grammar school fees" and it was the first link. Read through it and thought it was quite informative about the various schools (not just grammar schools) in the district.

Actually, I should say in NI's defence - having been pretty hard on it so far on this thread - that the people are really friendly and funny and that the cost of living is peanuts.

OP I can't link however if you look on Belfast Telegraph website you can see latest GCSE results in a league table format.

Belfast has really matured over the past 15 years!
The population is becoming more diverse there is even a substantial indian population that has settled here. Although it does have some backward notions, I don't think it deserves the unfavourable comparison with Glasgow upthread :)
I'm in East Belfast and we have a wide selection of excellent schools to choose from both primary and secondary.

www.belb.org.uk/schools.asp

Inspection reports
www.etini.gov.uk/index/inspection-reports.htm

Have you read about the climate yet? Have to warn you, it can get very wet and miserable here. The weather not the people, we still manage to keep on smilling, you get used to it. When it is sunny everyone makes the most of it, lying on the grass at City Hall or Botonic on a hot summers day is lovely. We have a lot of parks and stuff which is great. And beaches at County Down, Portrush, etc.

Another advocate for NI here

Assuming you will want South Belfast due to proximity to QUB I would recommend St Brides, Stranmillis and Finaghy Primary if you are wanting to move out a bit. It is very important to choose a good primary as they are instrumental in the preparation for Transfer test. Some schools do not do any preparation and others do a lot.

Re grammars, they have always been fee paying, but nothing like mainland UK so we are very fortunate. Fees range from about £150-£1000 pa and some schools have a voluntary element that does not have to be paid if you are on a low income.

Regarding the race issue, if you stick with South Belfast you will be fine. The grammars in particular (Methodist College, Victoria College) are very diverse so this will not be an issue for your dd.

Regarding housing I would stick to Malone, Stranmillis (not the student end) which are unfortunately very expensive and out of a lot of peoples reach. Parts of Finaghy are also good. Lisburn Road area is fine but mostly they are HMO and not suitable for families.

I lived in Belfast for a long time and shocked to hear about the deprived conditions that people on here are describing! It was definitely one of the best places to live in (and we have travelled a lot) and will always have a special place in my heart wipes tears from eyes.

I an English frequent visitor to NI (including Belfast regularly).

I've always found the people friendly & it feels safe (no rocks through windows - even driving around with English plates!)

The education system in NI is traditionally very good - probably the best in the UK. I would happily live there tbh (we can't for various reasons) & it feels like a second home (not something I thought I'd ever say when I made my first visit in 1992).

I found your comment helpful. I am considering a move to Belfast in the next few months and I am also looking for primary schools for my DC. I am considering Preps. My choices are Regent House, Downey House and Strathearn (Penrhyn) or Victoria College Prep for my DD maybe. Have you any thoughts or experience with these?
Also, would it be okay for a non white family to live in Newtownards, if we were to choose Regent House. It's a bit far out? It seems to be one of the cheaper preps with a Good Grammar and affordable housing. We will be renting (3 bed maybe with garden). Currently paying around £700 now in England, so would to save some money there.
We have lived in a small village in the past with s being the only non-white (black) family and were fine but this is in another part of the UK so unsure.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Hi user149, welcome to Belfast if you're here already.

First thing I think should be said is that the best performing schools from an academic perspective do not tend to be the preps. There is a bit of a misconception that if you pay for smaller class sizes you get better results. There are no league tables of primary schools so it's heavily dependent on word of mouth - in fact your biggest clue about how good a school is will be from how heavily subscribed it is. School inspection reports rate schools from outstanding to poor. Many are excellent or outstanding. By way of example my children attend an 'outstanding' catholic primary in the south of the city where 90% of children received an A grade in their transfer paper at age 11. This means a guaranteed grammar school place.

On another note I believe south Belfast is the most diverse and I would say probably most progressive part of the city. There are lots and lots of non white children In schools. Botanic primary has something like 25 different languages. However south of the city is also probably the most expensive - but if your schools are free and all non preps are - you'll have more money for rent.
Good luck whatever you decide 😊

I agree with happy in many ways and I have dc at a prep outside belfast! South Belfast is definitely more diverse than newtownards - the latter is absolutely lovely but extremely homogeneous. If your budget for rent is 700pcm then I think you'd be best off moving the fees money into your rental budget or savings. Stranmillis and botanic I have heard of as excellent. Then Methodist College Belfast (methody.org) for secondary has historically had as diverse an intake as any I've heard of. NI schools are amazing! We weren't in a position to apply for state but would have been happy with several of the excellent ones available.

If you're fixed on prep then Fullerton or Downey - feed into Methody plus also I went to an NI single sex prep and found it a little claustrophobic.

Thanks everyone for your posts here, They're very informative. I'll be moving to Larne in October with my kids, 3 and 5 (born in May and November respectively). I want to know if my daughter who is 3 will be accepted into primary school and also, if I'll need to pay any fees.

I agree Belfast has come of age - and negative comparisons to Glasgow show remarkable ignorance with regard to both cities!

julo at three it would be nursery and there should be a free state-run one although might only be 3 hours a day.

Thanks a lot dear Placemark.

Hello, I see this is an old post but I am wondering how things are. Did you move to Belfast and how was it? I would like to move to South Belfast with my two daughters.

My family and are planning to move to Belfast in June. We have a 12 year old (will be 13 in July) who is in 2nd year of middle school here. We are looking at applying to Methodist College for him and are all EU nationals. Do I understand correctly that this is the equivalent of Form 2 in Northern Ireland grammar schools? As well, does anyone know of a good football club he could join? He is VERY passionate about football and plays at the club level here. His dream is to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo (lol). Plus any advice on cost of living there? Have checked out Numbeo and done comparisons with LA area and Belfast but hard to know how far the hubby's future QUB salary will go each month. What's a salary for a family of three that offers a nice quality of life there (eating out once a week, some travel, modest entertainment and sports fees)? Thanks for any and all advice.

You should probably start a new thread for this.

N.I. has a very good education system, Methodist College is an excellent school, used to be very big on rugby, not so much football but dont know what its like now.

Primary school is the first 7 years of school, secondary is the second 7. So Form 1 in Secondary is 12 yo, Form 2 is 13 yo, although when you get to Form 6 and 7 they call it Lower and Upper Sixth but its the same school. Cost of living is reasonable and N.I. as a whole is very big on football, so he should find a good club easily.

Not lived there for a while so cant help with any more specifics sorry.

Thanks very much Julie8008. Great info and yes, probably wisest that I start a new thread on this topic. Have some contacts in Belfast through old friends in Dublin so just gathering all the info I can and any bit helps. Thanks again for your input.