AQW 41990/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 06/03/2026
Answered On Date: 11/03/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any exceptions which may be considered for schools unable to meet the general principle on reasonable numbers when seeking to transform to integrated education status.

Answer:

The legal requirement for reasonable numbers is based in a requirement set out in the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 as amended by the Integrated Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 which do not provide for exceptions.

The policy position on reasonable numbers was outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement issued in September 2025.

To ensure the process of Transformation is both well-grounded at the outset and

capable of developing over time, the Department will expect, as a general principle, the proposer to provide evidence that the school is likely to be able to attract at least 10% of its total year 1 or year 8 from the minority religion, or in those schools seeking to Transform to Integrated status, 15% of the combined number of Protestant and Catholic year 1 or year 8 pupils, in the first year of Transformation.

Evidence is also required that this is likely to increase over the next 7 years to

achieve reasonable numbers from the minority religion and an aspiration for the

relative proportions of the two groups to be similar.

While a rigid approach should not be taken to ‘reasonable numbers,’ what

constitutes reasonable numbers should be considered having regard to, the intention of the 1989 Order, the Northern Ireland CIE Statement of Principles, and the underlying rationale of contact theory that there should be a reasonable balance between Protestant and Catholic children.

Any potential exemptions to this are not pre-determined and each case will be considered in its own unique circumstances, regardless of the percentage of Protestant and Catholics evidenced by the proposer.