518 Ravenhill Road, Belfast, BT6 0BY
Grammar · Mixed · Voluntary · SEAG member
- Pupils
- 995
- Year 8
- 141
- Council
- Belfast
Your chances
against these criteria.
How it chooses when it has more applicants than places, in order:
- Preference for applicants resident in Northern Ireland at the proposed admission, applied before the criteria below.
- Applicants awarded SEAG band 1 to 6 (or assigned one via special circumstances or provision) are ranked by band, band 1 first.
- When a band is oversubscribed, applicants with a sibling in the school.
- When a band is oversubscribed, applicants who are the eldest child of the family eligible to apply.
- Applicants enrolled in named feeder primary schools, in no specific order.
- Applicants who are a Child Looked After, as defined by the Children (NI) Order 1995.
- Applicants entitled to free school meals on the Education Authority register will be selected.
- Final selection within the free school meals pool ranked by total SAS, places awarded until none left.
- Remaining ties broken by a computer-based random ranking that uses the applicant's name as entered on the application.
Getting in
56 of the 186 children who put it first were not offered a place in 2026/27.
Places depend mostly on the SEAG score, so how many apply says little on its own.
For September 2026 entry: the lowest SEAG score admitted was 215; the lowest band admitted was Band 1. source
For September 2026 entry, 207 applications were considered for 130 places. Places ran out at criterion 2c: Feeder-school applicants; criterion 2f then ranked the remaining applicants by score. EA statement
Applications per place (all preferences): 2 in 2024/25, 1.8 in 2025/26, 1.6 in 2026/27.
Results for its intake
Expected about 99%, got 99.2% (5+ GCSEs A* to C with English and maths, 2024/25).
School life
Who applied
| Year | Places | Put it 1st | 2nd | 3rd or later | Admitted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 130 | 216 | 30 | 12 | 130 |
| 2025/26 | 130 | 204 | 20 | 12 | 130 |
| 2026/27 | 130 | 186 | 12 | 9 | 130 |
In 2026/27, 130 of the 186 children who put it first got a place here.
Each child counts once, at the preference their family gave this school. Figures at the end of the admissions procedure, from the Education Authority's analysis of preferences.
Pupils (October 2025)
- Free school meals
- 5.7%
- Special educational needs
- 89 pupils (58 with a statement)
- Has Years 13 and 14
- Yes
- Area
- Urban
Religious background of pupilsProtestant 0.5%, Catholic 83.6%, other or none 15.9%
Exam results (2024/25)
- 5+ GCSEs A* to C, with English and maths
- 99.2%
- 5+ GCSEs A* to C
- 99.2%
- 3+ A-levels A* to C
- 89.1%
- 2+ A-levels A* to E
- 100%
- Year 12 pupils counted
- 130
- A-level pupils counted
- 101
Source: Department of Education, SAER 2024/25, Open Government Licence.
Admissions
From the school's admissions criteria for 2026.
Year 8 places: 130 (whole school: 910)
| Year | Places | Applications (all preferences) | Admitted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 148 | 239 | 156 |
| 2024/25 | 130 | 258 | 144 |
| 2025/26 | 130 | 237 | 141 |
Applications count every family that named the school at any preference, not only first preferences.
School's note: *Includes pupils placed in Aquinas through Education Authority Special Needs or Appeal or Exceptional Circumstances Body.
Uses transfer test results in its admissions criteria.
Open event: Saturday 10th January 2026, 9.00am to 12.30pm
Sources
- DE school census 2025/26
- Department of Education, SAER 2024/25
- EA analysis of preferences
- School admissions criteria, checked 16 October 2026
- SEAG member schools list, checked 15 October 2026
- School website, checked 16 October 2026
- OpenStreetMap (school address)
- ETI, checked 15 October 2026
DENI reference 1420277