Grammars go it alone to hang on to 11-plus

Northern Ireland's grammar schools are to hold their own 11-plus exams in defiance of the Education Minister's abolition of academic selection.

The private examinations will be held in November. Up to 30 grammar schools in the state system have signed up to the scheme. Meanwhile three Catholic grammars in Derry, Downpatrick and Enniskillen have indicated they will draw up their own entrance examinations for 11-year-olds when Sinn Fein's Education Minister Catriona Ruane scraps the 11-plus.

The breakaway schools include some of the top grammars in Northern Ireland such as Methodist College Belfast, Belfast Academical Institution and Portora Royal in Enniskillen.

Grammar schools in Northern Ireland produce some of the highest GCSE and AS-level results in the UK. However, critics of the 11-plus claim that it produces a two-tier education system with three quarters of children labelled as academic failures at an early age.

Supporters of academic selection and grammar schools argue that the alternative will be a "post-code comprehensive system" with house prices soaring in areas closest to the former grammars.