AQW 12900/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 04/06/2024
Answered On Date: 11/06/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail the criteria that has been used to select the areas the RAISE Programme will operate in.

Answer:

A wide range of data was considered from which seven child-centered indicators were chosen. These were:

GCSEs – The percentage of leavers who did not achieve 5+ GCSEs (A*-C) including equivalents including English & maths.

Pupil Absence from Years 1 to 12.

Special Educational Needs - SEN Stages 2-3.

Free School Meals Entitlement (FSME).

Income Deprivation Affecting Children – a Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure.

Health Deprivation & Disability – a Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure.

Crime/Anti-Social Behaviour Incidents.

The indicators were then used for two separate purposes:

Shortlisting – the seven listed indicators were used to identify and shortlist Super Output Areas (SOAs); and

Ranking – GCSE achievement was used as a ranking methodology to prioritise areas of investment, i.e. lowest achievement ranks first.