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Ashfield Girls' High School

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397 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 2LY

Non-selective · Girls · Controlled

Pupils
774
Year 8
134
Council
Belfast

Open events

Your chances

against these criteria.

How it chooses when it has more applicants than places, in order:

  1. Girl with a sister or child of the family enrolled at the school when applying.
  2. Girl who names the school as her first or second preference.
  3. Girl attending one of the school's 22 listed traditional feeder primary schools.
  4. Girl whose brother, or child of the family, currently attends Ashfield Boys' High School.
  5. Girl living closest to the school's main entrance on Holywood Road, by straight line on an OS map.
  6. Tie-break for equal distance (Method B): surname initial letters in a published random order.
  7. Final tie-break (Method A): eldest applicant admitted first, by date of birth.

The school's criteria

Getting in

9 of the 114 children who put it first were not offered a place in 2026/27.

For September 2026 entry, 158 applications were considered for 130 places. Places ran out at criterion 4: Brother attending Ashfield Boys; the school remained oversubscribed and criterion 5 then selected by distance. EA statement

Applications per place (all preferences): 0.9 in 2024/25, 1.2 in 2025/26, 1.2 in 2026/27.

Results for its intake

Expected about 54%, got 53.7% (5+ GCSEs A* to C with English and maths, 2024/25).

0%50%100%0%40%80%Pupils on free school meals
Each dot is a non-selective school with 30 or more Year 12 pupils. The dashed line is what schools usually get at each free school meals level.

Who applied

Applications by the preference families gave the school, and children admitted
YearPlacesPut it 1st2nd3rd or laterAdmitted
2024/2513096201117
2025/26130110475130
2026/27130114335130

In 2026/27, 105 of the 114 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
43.8%
Special educational needs
133 pupils (37 with a statement)
Has Years 13 and 14
Yes
Area
Urban

Religious background of pupilsProtestant 55.8%, Catholic 5.8%, other or none 38.4%

Exam results (2024/25)

5+ GCSEs A* to C, with English and maths
53.7%
5+ GCSEs A* to C
75.2%
3+ A-levels A* to C
47.6%
2+ A-levels A* to E
97.6%
Year 12 pupils counted
121
A-level pupils counted
42

Source: Department of Education, SAER 2024/25, Open Government Licence.

Admissions

From the school's admissions criteria for September 2026.

Year 8 places: 130 (whole school: 760)

Applications and admissions in recent years
YearPlacesApplications (all preferences)Admitted
2023/24130190134
2024/25130162136
2025/26130169134

Applications count every family that named the school at any preference, not only first preferences.

School's note: *The Total Admissions for year 2025/2026 includes all Year 8 children admitted to the school including those who have a statement of special educational needs and/or may be attending SPiMS. (SPiMS = Specialist Provision in Mainstream School).

Does not use transfer test results in its admissions criteria.

Open event: Open Night Tuesday 20 January 2026, 6.30pm to 9.00pm.

Sources

DENI reference 1210014

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