SEAGReady

Rathmore Grammar School

Save or compare in the school finderFind schools near you

Kingsway, Belfast, BT10 0LF

Grammar · Mixed · Voluntary · SEAG member

Pupils
1,258
Year 8
185
Council
Belfast

Open events

Your chances

against these criteria.

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

  1. Within Band 1: applicant with a child of the family currently or previously enrolled at the school.
  2. Within Band 1: applicant whose parent is a member of the permanent staff of the school.
  3. Within Band 1: eldest (or only) child of the family who achieved Band 1, or sibling of an eldest child who achieved Band 1 or grade A and was not selected. Certificate of Verification required.
  4. All other applicants, ranked by combined SEAG Standardised Age Score, highest first, within each Band.
  5. Tie-break where scores are identical and places are limited: applicants entitled to free school meals at time of application first.
  6. Final tie-break: remaining applicants ranked by a computer-based process using names on the Transfer Application.

The school's criteria

Getting in

70 of the 244 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 213; the lowest band admitted was Band 1. source

For September 2026 entry, more children applied than there were places. Places ran out at criterion (iii): Band 1, eldest child; random-selection sub-criterion (b) decided the remaining places among applicants tied at TSAS 213. EA statement

Applications per place (all preferences): 1.5 in 2024/25, 1.2 in 2025/26, 1.6 in 2026/27.

Results for its intake

Expected about 95%, got 98.9% (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

  • Voluntary contribution £120 a year source

Who applied

Applications by the preference families gave the school, and children admitted
YearPlacesPut it 1st2nd3rd or laterAdmitted
2024/251802272018180
2025/261801861215180
2026/271802442710180

In 2026/27, 174 of the 244 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
9.7%
Special educational needs
54 pupils (29 with a statement)
Has Years 13 and 14
Yes
Area
Urban

Religious background of pupilsProtestant 0.6%, Catholic 87.2%, other or none 12.2%

Exam results (2024/25)

5+ GCSEs A* to C, with English and maths
98.9%
5+ GCSEs A* to C
98.9%
3+ A-levels A* to C
94.2%
2+ A-levels A* to E
100%
Year 12 pupils counted
183
A-level pupils counted
155

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

Admissions

From the school's admissions criteria for September 2026.

Year 8 places: 180

Applications and admissions in recent years
YearPlacesApplications (all preferences)Admitted
2023/24180258181
2024/25180266181
2025/26180213185

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

School's note: *includes children admitted through the Exceptional Circumstances Body or Admission Appeals Tribunal ** includes children admitted through the Exceptional Circumstances Body or Admission Appeals Tribunal & children who have a statement of Special Educational Needs

Uses transfer test results in its admissions criteria. Uses SEAG Entrance Assessment Band and Total Standardised Age Score (TSAS), with a Statement of Outcomes to be uploaded.

Sources

DENI reference 1420095

Schools near Rathmore Grammar School