Applying for a Post Primary Year 8 Place

Transfer to post primary education is a significant milestone in your child’s life and deciding on where to seek a school place will be one of the most important decisions that you will make as a parent. This section provides key information on the Post Primary Admissions process and signposts you to further information and guidance.

Saturday 9 May 2026

All applicants who submitted an application between 27 January and 4pm on 24 February 2026 will receive an email notification to the address used to register their EA Connect account or added to their Late Paper Application. The email will provide you with basic details on the outcome of your child’s application. For more detailed information you can log in to EA Connect on the same date. Your login details will be the email address and password you had registered with to apply online. If you have forgotten your password, click ‘Forgotten Password’ option on EA Connect.

Applicants who submitted a paper application without an email address will receive the application outcome by letter.

If you submitted a paper application and provided an email address you can log in to EA Connect to view more details.  Click on ‘Forgot Password?’ and enter your email address.  You will then be sent an email with a link which you will need to click on in order to complete the password reset process.  Please check your junk mail/other folders if you cannot find the email.

If you are unable to log on to EA Connect, and you have not received an email or letter, you can contact the Admissions Helpdesk to find out the outcome of your child’s application.

Staff will only be able to provide information to the person who completed the application.

A list of schools with places available as of Saturday 9 May 2026 is available below. If the position of a school changes, the drop down options on the Change of Preference Form and Adding Additional Preferences on EA Connect will be updated. 

List of Post Primary Schools with Places Available as of Satursday 9 May 2026

If you wish to change the school your child currently attends, or if you have recently moved to Northern Ireland you will need to apply for a school place. You can find more information on our Transfer between schools page.

Applying for Year 8 starting September 2026

If your child was born between 2 July 2014 and 1 July 2015 you will need to apply for their Year 8 Post Primary school place for September 2026. For details on how to apply, please read the information below.

The closing date for punctual Post Primary Year 8 applications was 12.00 noon on Thursday 19 February 2026. The closing date for Late Post Primary Year 8 applications in exceptional circumstances was 4pm Tuesday 24 February 2026.

If you have not previously applied for a Post Primary Year 8 school place you should:

• review the List of Post-Primary Schools with Places Available at the close of the admissions procedure;
• identify those schools that you wish to consider your child’s application;
• study the school’s admission criteria;
• complete a New Year 8 Application on EA Connect from 9 May 2026 and
• the schools will consider your application and contact you directly if they are able to offer your child a school place.

You can only apply to schools which may have places available at this stage.  The position in some schools may have changed between the time the above list was prepared and when your child’s application is considered.  Making an application does not guarantee a place as some schools may have a small number of places available and vacant places are likely to fill quickly. 

The Education Authority will not process applications to schools that have already filled all available places.  If you wish to apply to a school which does not currently have any places available, contact the school directly in writing to request that your child’s name is placed on a waiting list for consideration if a place becomes available. Some schools do not operate a waiting list. There is no right to appeal the decision of a school that has already filled its places.

PLEASE NOTE: Once you have clicked ‘Save’ on ‘Your School Choices’ screen, it is not possible to remove the school or add more information to the page.  If you wish to make any changes, please email postprimaryadmissions@eani.org.uk stating your child’s name and date of birth along with the change required.  You must continue, review the summary and submit the application for it to be available to any school for consideration. 

Admissions Videos and Guidance on making an application via EA Connect is available on Admissions Support.

The last date and time for submitting a Post Primary Year 8 Admissions Application is 12 noon 28 August 2026. After that time, please see In-Year Transfer Between Schools.

EA Connect will open on Saturday 9 May for new late applications. The following supporting documents should be uploaded to your application.

• Birth Certificate
  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 a birth certificate is not available you can contact the school to determine what alternatives may be acceptable e.g. a biometric card, passport, medical card etc.
• Other Supporting Documents
  Check the admissions criteria for each of the schools you have listed as some schools ask for additional documentation such as proof of address and/or proof of eldest child. This documentation may be requested at the time of application, during the process or at the notification of placement. If verifying documents are being requested at the time of application you will need to upload the information on EA Connect for all school choices.

If you do not supply the documents requested this could lead to the inability of a school to offer a place to your child or the withdrawal of an offer of a place.

If a school has asked for documents which you do not have, or if it is unclear what type of documents are needed, you should email or phone the school directly to find out what they will accept as it can vary from school to school.

Use the ‘Find a School’ tool below to search for Post Primary schools in your area and read or download their admissions criteria.

Other sources of information which may be useful to you include:

• School websites
• School virtual opening day/evenings
• School prospectus
• ETI Inspection Reports
• Annual Area Profiles
• Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education
• Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta

Find a School

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. Places will be allocated to those who best meet the admissions criteria for each school. 

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, including at least one non-grammar, as there is no guarantee your child will be accepted into the first preference.

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

Search Admissions Criteria

Parents have the right to express preferences for the schools they would like their child to attend, but no child can be guaranteed a place in any school or any particular type of school (secondary, integrated, grammar, single sex etc).

After placements are notified on Saturday 9 May 2026 many schools will have allocated all their available places.  You will only be able to nominate schools which had places still available at that time. 

The position in some schools may have changed between the time the list was prepared and when your child’s application is considered.  Making an application does not guarantee a place as some schools may have a small number of places available and vacant places are likely to fill quickly. 

The Education Authority will not process applications to schools that have already filled all available places. If you wish to apply to a school which does not currently have any places available, contact the school directly in writing to request that your child’s name is placed on a waiting list for consideration if a place becomes available.  Some schools do not operate a waiting list.  There is no right to appeal the decision of a school that has already filled its places.

Consider whether transport assistance will be available from the EA.  Your school choices can affect eligibility for transport assistance. Check Transport Eligibility.

Schools’ Entrance Assessment Group (SEAG) have provided an Entrance Assessment which some schools will use to select pupils for admission. The EA is not involved in these tests, nor does it have information on the scores/grades.

Information on Entrance Assessments is referred to in the admissions criteria published by schools. Any specific queries regarding scores/grades, arrangements for special circumstances and special provision etc should be raised directly with the school(s) to which you are applying.

• Special Circumstances

Most schools which use Entrance Assessments will consider medical or other problems which may have affected performance in the test(s) and which are supported by independent documentary evidence of a medical or other appropriate nature. These medical or other problems are commonly referred to as special circumstances.

• Special Provisions

Special provisions refer mainly to pupils transferring from schools outside Northern Ireland or pupils who have received more than half of their primary education outside NI. Special provisions may also include cases where a child was unable to sit any entrance assessments. 

If you are making a claim for consideration of special circumstances or special provisions you should read very carefully the requirements set out in the admissions criteria of each school, to determine if and how they may apply to your child.  This can differ from school to school.