Applying for Post Primary School for September 2025?

Online applications will open at 12noon on Tuesday 28 January 2025 and will close at 12noon on Thursday 20 February 2025.

Before starting your child’s application you should:

• Read carefully the admissions criteria for each Post Primary school that you wish to nominate as a preference. YOU MUST WRITE DOWN FOR EACH SCHOOL HOW YOUR CHILD MEETS THEIR SET CRITERIA. EACH SCHOOL WILL HAVE A DIFFERENT CRITERIA SO TAKE YOUR TIME - IN THE RECENT PAST CHILDREN HAVE NOT BEEN ALLOCATED THEIR CHOSEN SCHOOL BECAUSE PARENTS DID NOT ACCURATELY LIST HOW THEIR CHILD MET THE SET CRITERIA!! LOOK AT EACH POINT ON THE CRITERIA (for each school) AND NOTE EACH POINT THAT APPLIES TO YOUR CHILD. We advise you to pick atleast 4 schools. 
• All schools will require the birth certificate to verify a child’s name and date of birth. Either a full (long) or short birth certificate may be used or an amended birth certificate or an adoption certificate, where appropriate, is acceptable. If you do not have a copy of your child’s birth certificate, please contact the school you wish to nominate to see what other documents they may accept.
• You should refer to the admissions criteria to find out if other supporting documents are required by each of the schools you have chosen e.g. proof of address.
• You can scan or take a photo of the documents you require for each school and save them on the device you will be using to make your Post Primary Application. Make sure the photos or scans are clear and legible.
• For GDPR purposes you should remove personal/sensitive/private information from your documents before uploading e.g. financial details in bank statements.
• You will require an email address to be able to register on EA Connect to submit an application.

All schools have admissions criteria. If they receive more applications than they have places available, they use these criteria to decide who to offer places to.

Before starting to complete your child’s application you should read carefully the published admissions criteria for each school that you wish to nominate as a preference. 

You should complete your application providing all the relevant details/preference reasons about how your child meets the schools’ admissions criteria.

When making an application it is recommended that you list at least four schools in the order of your preference, as there is no guarantee your child will be accepted into the first preference.

Please note that you cannot list the same preference more than once. The only exception where you can list a school twice in your order of preference is if you wish to apply for a school which offers both English and Irish Medium education. Where there is an option of applying separately to an Irish Medium Unit, EA Connect will indicate this in the school’s name.

If your child’s application is not selected by your first preference school it will then be considered by your second preference school. The process will be repeated until a place has been allocated or all preferences that you have listed have considered your application. Places will be allocated to those who best meet the admissions criteria for each school. 

Any queries on the content of a school’s published admissions criteria should be directed to the post primary school.

Link to search criteria for each school you may be interested in - Search Admissions Criteria | Education Authority Northern Ireland