Oakgrove-Crest-White.png

Admissions Criteria 2019 

 

Oakgrove Integrated College is an all ability, co-educational, integrated school.  This school was set up deliberately to bring together young people from the Protestant and Roman Catholic tradition as part of the process of healing the division in Northern Ireland. Through the admissions criteria the Board of Governors seeks to maintain an overall balance amongst all traditions, as outlined in the statement of principles of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE).

 

Prospective parents should complete the Official Transfer Form, providing the relevant and correct information.  The Board of Governors reserves the right to seek confirmation on any information supplied.

 

In order to achieve a reasonable balance Oakgrove College will reserve a maximum of 20% of the places available for pupils from traditions other than the Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions.  In the event of there being fewer applicants from the “other traditions” sector than the allocated 20% of places then the balance of places will be divided equally between Protestant and Roman Catholic applicants.  In the event of an odd number of places remaining in this division, an additional place will be allocated to the sector having the greater number of applicants.  In the event of there being fewer applicants from either the Protestant or Roman Catholic traditions than there are places available for that tradition then the balance of places will be allocated to the other tradition. 

 

The perceived religious affiliation of an applicant will be decided by one or other of the following means:

  1. The religious affiliation noted on or attached to the Transfer Form by the parent/guardian; or

  2. The type of primary school which the pupil attended; i.e.  controlled or maintained; or

  3. Directly from the applicant’s Primary School Principal; or

  4. The information supplied to the College on or attached to the Transfer Form.

 

The selection for admission to the College will be applied firstly to applicants whose normal place of residence is in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission and secondly, if there are any places still remaining, to applicants not so resident at the time of application.

 

In the event that the total number of applicants for a particular tradition is greater than the number of places within that tradition of applicants as set out above, then the allocation of places will be determined, in the order set down below, to applicants in order of preference, i.e. the criteria below will be applied to first preference applicants of that tradition and then, if places are still available in that particular tradition, to second preference applicants of that tradition and so on:

 

  1. Applicants who are transferring from:

    1. any Grant Maintained or Controlled Integrated Primary School as defined in the Education Reform Order (NI) 1989.  For information purposes, Groarty, Oakgrove and Roe Valley Primary Schools are the only such type of schools in the area.

    2. Sion Mills Primary School or any other school which is an associate member of Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE).

  2. Applicants who have a ‘child of the family’ presently or previously enrolled, or will be enrolled in the school this year.  Priority will be given, within this criterion, to those children where all elder ‘children of the family’ attended this College.

  3. Applicants whose parent/guardian is an employee of the Board of Governors of Oakgrove College or who is due to take up such an appointment in the 2019/2020 academic year.

  4. Applicants who are the first child in the family to be of the age to transfer to secondary education or in the case of a family, having arrived in the area within the P6/P7 year (proof required), is the first to reach transfer age since arrival.

  5. Other applicants. 
    In the event of there being more applicants than places available for the last criterion that can be applied, then selection for the remaining places will be on the basis of the initial letter of the surnames in the order set out below (if applicants have the same surname then the first forename will be used to list applicants.  In the event of two or more children having exactly the same name, the date of birth, as entered on the birth certificate, will be used as a tie-breaker with the oldest child being chosen first). 

 

Mc N E O Mac S B D W M F H L V R U A Q G P K X Z C T J O’ I Y

 

             The order was determined by a random selection of letters of the alphabet.

In the event of applicants having the same surname then the first forename will be used to list applicants.  In the event of two, or more, children having exactly the same name, the date of birth as entered on the birth certificate, will be used as a tie-breaker with the oldest child being chosen first.