SEAGReady

Belfast High School

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740 Shore Road, Newtownabbey, BT37 0PX

Grammar · Mixed · Voluntary · SEAG member

Pupils
972
Year 8
144
Council
Antrim and Newtownabbey

Your chances

against these criteria.

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

  1. Children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of proposed admission are considered before any child not resident.
  2. Children who sat the SEAG assessment, ranked by TSAS in strict rank order, highest first, up to the admissions number.
  3. If places remain after the SEAG pool, children who did not sit the SEAG assessment, using criterion 1 then the sibling and random rules.
  4. Tie-break for the last place(s) with equal scores: child with a sibling enrolled at the school at the time of application.
  5. Final tie-break: computerised random selection by EA application number, with higher random numbers preferred.

The school's criteria

Getting in

64 of the 200 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: places by SEAG score went to 210 and above; the lowest SEAG score admitted was 209. source

For September 2026 entry, 208 applications were considered for 136 places. Places ran out at criterion 1: A sibling applicant among those tied on SEAG score received the final place. EA statement

Applications per place (all preferences): 1.8 in 2024/25, 1.5 in 2025/26, 1.5 in 2026/27.

Results for its intake

Expected about 98%, got 99.3% (5+ GCSEs A* to C with English and maths, 2024/25).

0%50%100%0%20%40%Pupils on free school meals
Each dot is a grammar school with 30 or more Year 12 pupils. The dashed line is what schools usually get at each free school meals level.

School life

Who applied

Applications by the preference families gave the school, and children admitted
YearPlacesPut it 1st2nd3rd or laterAdmitted
2024/251362111715136
2025/2613619792139
2026/2713620026136

In 2026/27, 136 of the 200 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
6.4%
Special educational needs
64 pupils (33 with a statement)
Has Years 13 and 14
Yes
Area
Urban

Religious background of pupilsProtestant 53.2%, Catholic 13.3%, other or none 33.5%

Exam results (2024/25)

5+ GCSEs A* to C, with English and maths
99.3%
5+ GCSEs A* to C
99.3%
3+ A-levels A* to C
85.6%
2+ A-levels A* to E
100%
Year 12 pupils counted
143
A-level pupils counted
104

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

Admissions

From the school's admissions criteria for September 2026.

Applications and admissions in recent years
YearPlacesApplications (all preferences)Admitted
2023/24136202142
2024/25136244139
2025/26139209144

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

School's note: * Includes children who were admitted to the School with a statement of special educational needs and/or children admitted following a successful EA independent tribunal appeal. ** includes a Temporary Variation of 3 pupils.

Uses transfer test results in its admissions criteria. Academic performance in the SEAG Common Entrance Assessment (Total Standardised Age Score) is the main criterion.

Sources

DENI reference 3420077

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