AQE (Association for Quality Education) has announced its decision to cancel the 2021 post-primary transfer test.

The exam was due to take place last week but AQE announced it was calling the exam off entirely however this changed a few hours later when AQE announced it planned to roll out the test at the end of February.

AQE was criticised by deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, who last week called on the business to cancel the test because of the spread of Covid-19 throughout Northern Ireland.

“Due to the ongoing uncertainty about the potential for an extended period of lockdown, the Board of AQE Limited has decided to recommend to our grammar schools, the membership of AQE, that there should be no assessment offered by AQE in this academic year,” said AQE in a statement issued on Wednesday evening.

placeholder image — The 2021 test will now not go ahead as planned.

“The test scheduled for Saturday 27th February will therefore not take place.

“The health and safety of the children due to sit the exams is our top priority.

“As we cannot guarantee that the Executive will not extend the lockdown period at this stage, we do not want to cause any distress to the children and their parents by extending this period of uncertainty. We know these are anxious times for many.”

The statement continued: “We will be writing to parents individually over the coming days to confirm these arrangements. We hope this will end the period of uncertainty for the children who have been working so hard for these assessments.

“We wish to thank the Minister for Education, his officials and the Education Authority for their support”.

It’s unclear how the 34 schools across Northern Ireland who use the AQE transfer test will now select the children who will make up the 2021 cohort.