Transfer tests expected to be cancelled by AQE and GL

News of the cancellations are expected to be announced before the NI Executive meeting today.

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said “January was always going to be a very difficuly and dangerous month”.

In a Tweet he added: “The @SDLPlive have warned @peterweirmla since April that contingency plans must be in place in the highly likely event of exams being cancelled.

“This morning 10/11 year olds have no certainty & no answers after months of hard work.

“This is a shameful & disgraceful situation!”

Children’s Commissioner Koulla Yiasouma has called for clarity in an annoucement from the private companies who set the exams.

She said that “every single grammar schools needs to come up with an alternative arrangement”.

Last night announcements on this year’s transfer tests in Northern Ireland are expected later today, First Minister Arlene Foster said last night.

The DUP leader spoked last night from a location in Co Fermanagh after the executive announced an extended period of remote learning for schools in NI.

The executive also plans to give its stay at home guidance legal force.

The first transfer test, used by many grammar schools to select pupils, is due to take place on Saturday.

However, Mrs Foster said she understood the two organisations which ran the tests would be making announcements later.

“We’ll wait to hear what they have to say,” she said.

“They do of course have to abide by public health advice, but they are private organisations and they will make their own announcements.”

Earlier yesterday Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said details of what they agreed would be formalised on Tuesday.

She said the health and education ministers will bring separate papers on the issues to the executive at the meeting, she added.

Northern Ireland’s Education Minister Peter Weir had previously announced a staggered return to school for pupils during the month of January.

In England, all schools and colleges will close to most pupils and switch to remote learning until the middle of February, and end-of-year exams will not take place this summer as normal.

Mrs Foster said the new restrictions were unfortunate but necessary.

She said she believed the stay-at-home message would be in place “for the rest of January, probably into February”.

“We will of course review it, as we’re legally bound to do every couple of weeks,” she said.

She added that ministers would “much prefer” face-to-face education to continue, but they had to “take into account the very serious situation that we find ourselves in”.

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