Thousands of pupils receive transfer test results

Around 12,500 children in Northern Ireland have received their transfer test results.

They received results from a body called the Schools Entrance Assessment Group (SEAG), which runs the common transfer test.

More than 60 post-primary schools across Northern Ireland use the test to decide which pupils to admit into year eight.

P7 pupils getting their results sat the test papers in November 2024.

Families of pupils who have taken the SEAG tests will use the results they receive to apply to enter a post-primary school.

The majority of Northern Ireland's 190 post-primaries, however, do not use the tests to decide which pupils to admit.

They use other criteria like how close a pupil lives to the school or whether they already have a sibling there.

The SEAG test replaced the separate tests run by the AQE and PPTC organisations until 2023.

Before 2008, there was a state-run 11-plus test used by grammar schools to select pupils.

BBC News NI first revealed details of the new SEAG test in 2021.

Using academic selection has proved controversial over the years though, and the transfer test system has faced criticism.

Some experts have argued that it favours pupils from better-off backgrounds while disadvantaging the less well-off.