10th March 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The two groups who organise independent grammar school examinations have agreed to try and change their system so that there is one standard test for every student, the BBC has reported.
The Post-Primary Transfer Consortium and the Association for Quality Education held a meeting in Belfast recently, and came to a preliminary agreement. However, there are a few problems that are still to be resolved. One of these issues is to do with charging a fee for the examination; some schools are said to be morally opposed to fees, but other head teachers have claimed that they cannot fund the examinations from their existing budget.
Another stumbling block is that the Catholic Church’s policy is changing, and from 2012 it will be against selection within schools. A large proportion of the schools that have previously used The Post-Primary Transfer Consortium are of Catholic denomination, and therefore may withdraw from the examination.
However, the chairman of the meeting described it overall as “positive”, and suggested that a resolution is in sight, and that findings will be reported within two weeks.