West Belfast had the lowest proportion of young people entering universities and colleges in Northern Ireland in 2025, according to latest statistics.
The entry rate into higher education institutions among 18-year-olds in the constituency sat at 29.7% for 2025 – almost 9% below the Northern Ireland average.
The latest statistics from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) were released this week for the 2025 undergraduate admissions period.
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UCAS handles admissions applications for the majority of university courses in the UK, including those at Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University.
It also handles applications for a number of courses at institutions such as Belfast Met, however they also directly handle their admissions for other courses.
St Mary’s University College, which is located in west Belfast, administers its own applications.
Entry rates represent the proportion of 18-years-olds accepted into higher education (HE) institutions on UCAS courses in relation the total number living in a constituency.
The West Belfast parliamentary constituency was the lowest in 2025, followed closely by Upper Bann (29.9%).
North Belfast (32.5%), Newry and Armagh (33.1%) and Foyle (35.7%) were the constituencies with the next lowest entry rates.
Reacting to the figures, Sinn Féin MLA for west Belfast Danny Baker told The Irish News that elements of the education system are “set up to fail working-class children”.
“When it comes to our education system, there is no escaping the fact that elements of it are set up to fail working-class children,” he said.
“A prime example of this is academic selection, which has been proven to particularly affect young people from working-class and disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Alongside ending academic selection at age 11, we must continue to support widening access and participation programmes which can help young people overcome barriers to enter third level education.
“While working to strengthen all levels of education, we must also remove practices that only serve to deepen inequality and ultimately undermine the goal of an inclusive, high-performing education system.”
Mr Baker added that higher education was “just one option” available to young people, with many also choosing to enter training, apprenticeships or employment.
“Young people must be supported to choose the path to success that best fits their needs and talents,” he said.
“West Belfast is also the proud home to many fantastic education institutions, such as St Mary’s University and St Dominic’s, as well as high-quality training centres and jobs.”
Meanwhile, almost one-in-two 18-year-olds in North Down (49.3%) were accepted onto courses this year – the highest rate of any constituency in the north.
Belfast South and Mid Down (47.6%), East Antrim (46.9%), South Antrim (43.5%) and Strangford (40.9%) were the areas with the next highest entry rates.
Of the 18-year-olds who applied to course in 2025, South Antrim had the highest acceptance rate at 74.2%, while Foyle had the lowest rate at 62.8% – almost 5% below the next constituency.
Overall, Northern Ireland was the region with the third-highest entry rate in 2025 at 38.3%, ranking behind London (51.4%) and England’s south east (38.9%).
