Access and performance inequalities: post-primary education in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's schools system is undergoing a radical review. The first stage in this process is to reform the post-primary sector in response to the Education Minister's call to 'put pupils first' and raise the overall standard of educational performance. An excess of school places, reduction in public expenditure on education, and opportunities to examine segregated schooling have all hastened this reform. Drawing on data gathered by education bodies for the purposes of the review, this paper examines those factors which best explain education performance and highlights the social injustices in the existing system.