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Primary school pupils facing 60-mile 11-plus trip

A majority of grammar schools running their own entrance exams
A majority of grammar schools running their own entrance exams A majority of grammar schools running their own entrance exams

PRIMARY school children are facing a 60 mile round trip on consecutive weekends to sit 11-plus exams.

A rise in entries this year means a small number of pupils cannot sit transfer tests at their first choice assessment centre.

A majority of grammar schools have been running their own entrance exams since the last state-sponsored 11-plus was held in November 2008.

Schools largely remain split into two camps using either the Common Entrance Assessment (CEA) or multiple-choice papers set by GL Assessment.

The number of entries have been increasing every year, although the exact number of pupils taking the tests remains unclear as many do both.

This year, around 8,100 pupils have entered the CEA, which is run by the Association for Quality Education (AQE), compared to 7,725 in 2016.

A total of 7,255 children have applied to sit the GL Assessment, up from 6,851 last year.

AQE joint chief executive Stephen Connelly said the 34 schools offering the CEA only had 7,990 available places for those wishing to sit the tests.

This means many will have to travel longer distances on three Saturdays, starting on November 11. An additional test centre in Bangor that can accommodate 120 pupils has been opened.

AQE advises parents to "choose whichever one of the 34 grammar schools is easiest for you to get to on the mornings of the assessments". However, it warns that it awards preferred assessment centre places on a first come, first served basis.

Mr Connolly said there were six pupils in Lisburn who may have to travel to Dungannon to sit the three tests.

"There are particular pinch points where some of our member schools are seriously over-subscribed," he told the BBC.

"There are also many children across the province who are going to be travelling further than Lisburn to Dungannon. It's not a situation that any of us would willingly entertain, but we're faced sometimes with limits on places and resources."

Talks are continuing between the rival groups to agree a single transfer test for all grammar schools.

Former DUP education minister Peter Weir announced a team of educational professionals who would "seek to simplify the current transfer test process".

Some primary pupils take up to five unregulated 11-plus-style tests to secure a grammar place.

Sinn Féin education spokeswoman Karen Mullan last night urged schools that still use transfer tests "to show leadership and end them altogether".