Lumen Christi to continue with transfer test

The Bishop Street grammar says it will use the GL Assessment method that it has been using for the past number of years.

The school’s boards of governors says academic selection “is, and remains, a key component of the admissions criteria”.

St Columb’s College and Thornhill College in Derry recently said they will not be asking prospective pupils to take the transfer test this year.

However, in a statement issued today, Lumen Christi said it was mindful of the “unprecedented circumstances facing all of our young people.”

The statement continues: “We want, therefore, to provide as much certainty and reassurance as possible for both pupils and parents.

“Academic selection is, and remains, a key component of the Admissions Criteria for Lumen Christi College.The College will continue to use the GL Entrance Assessment method.

“The Board of Governors welcomes the mitigating measures being taken by the Post Primary Transfer Consortium to make the GL Assessment papers as accessible as possible for pupils. We also welcome that additional time will be afforded this year to the pupils to complete each of the two papers.

“We wish to reassure pupils and parents that the standardisation process involved in the marking of the GL Entrance Assessment will ensure a similar proportion of A, B1, B2, C1, C2 and D grades will be allocated as in previous years.

“In line with statutory regulations, the Board of Governors will publish its Admissions Criteria for 2021 in the Autumn term. In the meantime, the Governors will continue to monitor Covid-19 guidance in relation to the operation of the GL Entrance Assessment.”

Foyle College, the last of Derry’s four grammar schools, has yet to comment on whether it will be using the transfer test for admissions next year.