The standard of education is Northern Ireland is considered to be relatively high. In 1993/94, Northern Ireland had the lowest proportion of students in their final year of compulsory schooling who failed to achieve a graded examination result, and the highest proportion of students in post-compulsory schooling who achieved 2 or more passes at GCE A Level.
Education attainments in Northern Ireland are rising rapidly. Second level school leavers in Northern Ireland have substantially higher educational attainments than the United Kingdom average. Between 1986 and 1998, the proportion of school leavers who attained three or more 'A' Level qualifications doubled.
The proportion of school leavers entering full-time higher education in Northern Ireland has also increased dramatically between 1986 and 1998. The number of full-time postgraduate students studying in Northern Ireland doubled, while the number of part-time undergraduate students tripled.
The proportion of youths in Northern Ireland who proceed to university is higher than any other country in the European Union. Basically, all schools in Northern Ireland can be divided into 5 categories(i) Controlled Schools: These are essentially Protestant schools - they are owned by the Educationand Library boards, although they are mostly controlled by their Boards of Governors. The Protestant churches are represented on the Board of Governors.
Catholic Maintained Schools: These are essentially Catholic schools - they are owned by the Catholic Church but are managed by a Board of Governors. The Education and Library Boards provide some financial assistance, by financing recurrent costs and the employment of non-teaching staff.
Other Maintained: These are essentially Protestant schools, in that they are owned by the Protestant church and managed by a Board of Governors. Like the Catholic maintained schools, they received funding from the Education and Library Boards for the recurrent costs.
Voluntary Grammar: These schools are owned by school trustees and managed by a Board of Governors. (v) Grant Maintained Integrated Schools: These are essentially mixed schools, for Catholic and Protestant children. They are partially owned by trustees and managed by a Board of Governors, with their recurrent costs being met by the Department of Education.
The majority of Protestant children in Northern Ireland attend state controlled schools, whilst the majority of Catholic children attend Catholic maintained schools. These are essentially Protestant and Catholic schools.The first integrated school in Northern Ireland was established in 1981, and there are currently46 throughout Northern Ireland (January 2002). Thereare comprising 17 integrated secondary level colleges and 29 integrated primary schools. There are also 13 integrated nursery schools (most of which are linked to primary schools). Attendance at these schools accounts for approximately 14,000 pupils, which is about 4 per cent of the schoolpopulation. The majority ofchildren are still attending non-integrated schools.
Girls in Northern Ireland at GCSE[2] and A Level standard achieve a higher standard of results than boys at the same level. Compared with the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland has proportionately more schools with a small number of pupils. In 1995/96, 37 percent of primary schools in Northern Ireland had less than 100 pupils, compared with only 15 percent in England.
The number of pupils in Northern Ireland attending Irish Medium Schools is on the increase. In1994/95, the number of pupils attending these schools was 713, while in 1998/99 the figure had risen to 1,342 pupils.
A comparison of School leaver figures from early 1980's and 1990's reveal that fewer school leavers today go directly into employment, while a greater percentage are now going on to furtherand higher education.Pupils in Catholic schools tend to perform much better in arts subjects and languages than pupilsin Protestant schools, whilst pupils in Protestant schools tend to perform better in science subjects.
