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11 Plus in Northern Ireland

The 11 Plus was officially discontinued in Northern Ireland, but has re-emerged as a different selective process. The original political intention had been to introduce fully comprehensive education in the region, but there was a fierce backlash from both grammar schools and parents to the imposition of what they described as a “one size fits all educational system”.

From the chaos some degree of order has been created, at least for the time being. Two consortia of schools have emerged: the Association for Quality Education (AQE), and another grouping known as the Post Primary Transfer Consortium, which is driven mainly by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS). The entrance tests for the two consortiums differ, and there is a brief summary of both below.

The Post Primary Transfer Consortium

The test is set by GL Assessment (formerly NFER).
There is no charge to parents for their child to take the test.
Parents have to register an application with PPTC
The test will take place in a Post Primary school. On the application is an option to select the most convenient Assessment centre.

The test will comprise:

English: A 50 minute multiple choice paper of 65 questions, including 3 comprehension passages.
Maths: A 45 minute multiple choice paper of 45 questions.
There will be a short practice paper before each main paper, and a short break between papers.
Papers will be marked by an optical reader.

PPTC Admissions Information for 2013 Entry
These dates are provisional

Admissions PPTC The Transfer Test
Registration Opens	Monday 14th May 2012
Registration Closes	Friday 21st September 2012
Test Dates	Saturday 17th November 2012 Saturday 8th December 2012 – Supplementary Test (for children who could not sit the first test. The questions on this paper will be different)
Test Types	Maths and English
Examiner	GL Assessment)
Results	Friday 1st February 2013
Remarking	Friday 15th February 2013 – application request deadline

Please click here for more details.

Sample papers are available here.

The Association for Quality Education

The test has been devised by CEA (Common Entrance Assessment) and there are sample papers available on their website.
There is a charge of £39.50 for each child taking the test, although this is waived for children in receipt of free school meals.
There is the option to sit the test in Irish
Parents have to register an application with AQE. Application forms are available from the AQE website or office, from ‘The Transfer Test’ website or the schools.
There are three papers to give pupils the best opportunity to display their abilities. The best two marks are taken into account.
A child has the option to only take 2 papers if he wishes.
Tests are held at participating Grammar schools, it does not need to be taken at the school you are applying to.

AQE Admissions Information for 2013 Entry
All dates are confirmed

Admissions AQE The Transfer Test
Registration Opens	Monday 14th May 2012
Registration Closes	Friday 14th September 2012
Test Dates	Saturday 10th November 2012 – Test 1 Saturday 24th November 2012- Test 2 Saturday 1st December 2012 – Test 3
Test Types	Maths and English There are three 1 hour papers. Each paper includes both subjects.
Examiner	CEA (Common Entrance Assessment)
Results	Friday 1st February 2013
Remarking	Friday 8th February 2013 – application deadline Monday 18th February 2012 – application submission deadline February/March 2013 – remark results

The test will comprise:

English – a poem and a prose passage
English (Poem, Prose Passage), Maths and Basic Skills.
Papers will be marked by hand.

Past assessment papers and sample papers are available to download from The Transfer Test website here.

A further six practice papers have been published by the Belfast Telegraph. These claim to be appropriate for both the consortia tests, but we advises some caution in using them, because the two tests do differ slightly in content and standard.