To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the steps he has taken to assess the level of demand for Integrated Education in the Ards and North Down area; and (ii) how he plans to meet that demand.

According to statute, “Integrated education” means the education together, in an integrated school, of (a) those of different cultures and religious beliefs and of none, including reasonable numbers of both Protestant and Roman Catholic children or young persons; (b) those who are experiencing socio-economic deprivation and those who are not; and (c) those of different abilities.

My Department set out how it will aim to meet demand in the Section 10 report published in April 2024. Our analysis of existing admissions choices data suggests that while there is broadly sufficient provision of Integrated Education at the primary school level to meet parental preference, the same cannot be said for post-primary provision. In some areas, there is a higher demand for integrated education provision than that which is currently available. It was identified that there is demand for post-primary integrated education in excess of supply in six localities including North Down and Ards.

On conclusion of work to update guidance for schools considering transformation to Integrated status, my Department will commission the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) to engage with these oversubscribed integrated schools and the Education Authority (EA) in the six localities identified. The affected schools will be encouraged to review their enrolment numbers and school capacity and prepare and bring forward DPs to increase their enrolment numbers (if such changes are significant in nature).

DE acknowledges that while this approach may partially address oversubscription issues, it is unlikely to resolve them in full. DE will therefore commission NICIE, working in partnership with EA and CSSC to issue a ‘Call for Transformation’ suggesting schools in the identified localities consider Transformation to Integrated status to meet demand.

To further monitor demand across Northern Ireland, Departmental officials have included societal level questions on demand and the factors parents consider when makings school admission decisions in the annual Northern Ireland Life and Times survey. Results will be available in late Spring with a report in the Summer.

Officials are also working closely with colleagues in the Education Authority to develop and conduct a survey of parents who have recently made school preference decisions through the admissions portal. This survey will be carried out in April 2025 and will ask parents and guardians, in line with the Integrated Education Act, whether they have a preference for Integrated Education and how various factors have influenced their school preferences.

Both surveys will allow my Department to consider existing and future demand and provide data on which existing Area Planning structures can take action to aim to meet that demand in the context the overall sustainability of the school estate.