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Dalriada School: Year 8 entry

St James Road, Ballymoney, BT53 6BL

Facts checked 19 October 2026By ExamKind Editorial TeamSchool website

Some details are being re-checked

We check every fact against the official source on a schedule, and some details on this page are due their next check (last verified 19 October 2026). We'll update the page if anything has changed. How we check facts

Can we apply, and what did it take?

For September 2027 entry

  • How places are decided

    By test score, in rank order

    No minimum score stated in the criteria; the criteria say scores accepted are given in the school prospectus (flipbook not readable).

    Checked, source: Dalriada School, checked

  • Year 8 places

    125

    2025 entry, Published Admission Number ()

    Checked, source: Dalriada School, checked

  • Last distance offered

    Not publishedWe have no checked figure for how far offers reached.

Your next deadlines

  1. Next: Re-mark requests close

    in about 15 weeks

    Only if you want the test papers marked again

  2. Coming up: Appeal deadline

    in about 30 weeks

How far offers reached

Can we get in?

How places are given

Northern Ireland grammar schools give Year 8 places using their own admissions criteria, often in order of transfer test result. Dalriada School's criteria are under Admission rules on this page.

Qualifying is not the same as being offered a place.

Reaching the school's standard means your child can be considered. If more children qualify than there are places, the school gives places using its admission rules, in order. The figures below show how far those rules reached in past years. They are history, not a prediction: they change every year with who applies.

Checked, source: Department for Education (GOV.UK), checked

Most Northern Ireland schools do not publish how far places reached. Read the school's admissions criteria to see how it ranks applicants, and what transfer test results mean.

At a glance

Dalriada School in brief

tap a value for its source

Year 8 places
125Year 8 placesChecked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Admissions Number: 125View the official source2025 entry
The (PAN): how many children the school plans to admit.
Pupils
co-educationalPupilsChecked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Dalriada School, as a co-educational grammar school, provides secondary education for girls and boys in the upper band of the range of academic ability.View the official source
Who the school admits.
Entrance test
SEAG Entrance Assessment (the NI transfer test)
The test children sit to be considered.

Key dates

Dates for September 2027 entry

For children in P7 in 2026/27.

Add to my calendar

SEAG (Schools' Entrance Assessment Group)

3 earlier steps, all doneShow

  1. Done: Test registration opens

  2. Done: Test registration closes

  3. Done: Admission cards sent for the test

  1. Next: Test day

  2. Coming up: Transfer test, paper 1

  3. Coming up: Transfer test, paper 2

  4. Coming up: Results

  5. Coming up: Re-mark requests open

  6. Coming up: Re-mark requests close

    in about 15 weeks

    Only if you want the test papers marked again

  7. Coming up: Appeal deadline

    in about 30 weeks

    Source: nidirect (NI Government), checked

  8. Not published yet: Transfer application deadline (to the Education Authority)

    Not yet published, checked 17 Oct 2026

  9. Not published yet: School place outcomes

    Not yet published, checked 9 Oct 2026

Year 5 now? Dates for September 2028 entryNone of these dates are published yet.

  1. Not published yet: Test day

    Not yet published, checked 9 Oct 2026

  2. Not published yet: Results

    Not yet published, checked 9 Oct 2026

  3. Not published yet: Appeal deadline

    Not yet published, checked 9 Oct 2026

  4. Not published yet: Transfer application deadline (to the Education Authority)

    Not yet published, checked 9 Oct 2026

How places are given

5 admission rules, in order, for 2025 entry

If more children qualify than there are places, Dalriada School gives places using these rules (its ), in this order (the 2025 rules; the rules for 2027 entry are not published yet).

  1. 1

    Criterion 1: Schools’ Entrance Assessment Group () total standardised age score, rank order, higher first (SC/SP applicants assigned a score)

    The policy's own words
    Criterion 1 Academic ability is indicated only by the result awarded in the SEAG Entrance Assessment.
  2. 2

    Criterion 2: a child of the family currently enrolled

    The policy's own words
    Criterion 2 Children who, at the date of their application, are members of a family with a child currently enrolled at Dalriada School.
  3. 3

    Criterion 3: family previously had a child enrolled

    The policy's own words
    Criterion 3 Children whose family previously had a child enrolled at Dalriada School.
  4. 4

    Criterion 4: eldest child (twins/multiples included) eligible to apply

    The policy's own words
    Criterion 4 Children who, at the date of their application are the eldest child (including twins and other multiples) of the family eligible to apply for admission to Dalriada School.
  5. 5

    Criterion 5: age of the child, older first

    The policy's own words
    Criterion 5 The age of the child, preference being given to an older child.

Source: Dalriada School, checked

More detail from our guide

A clear warning first. The most recent criteria on the school's website are for September 2025 entry, two years ago (Admissions criteria for entry September 2025Dalriada School: Document title (2025)Checked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Admissions criteria for entry September 2025View the official source). We found nothing newer for 2026 or 2027. Newer criteria are expected before the transfer application, and the details below may change.

Under those rules, Dalriada first placed children living in Northern Ireland ahead of others, and on-time applications ahead of late ones. Then: Rank order of SEAG total standardised age score, higher scores first.Dalriada School: Selection metric (2025)Checked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Children will be admitted in rank order according to their total standardised age score result with higher scores preceding lower scores.View the official source No minimum score was written into the criteria. Instead, they pointed families to the school prospectus for the scores accepted, which we could not read.

When children had the same score, the school separated them this way: (1) Child of the family currently enrolled. (2) Family previously had a child enrolled. (3) Eldest child (including twins/multiples). (4) Age of the child, older child preferred.Dalriada School: Tie breakers (2025)Checked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Where it is necessary to distinguish between children who have been awarded the same score in the SEAG Entrance Assessment the criteria 2-5 will be used.View the official source

A few notes on that order:

  • Brothers and sisters, past and present. A family with a child at Dalriada now came first, and a family that had a child there before came next. The criteria did not define "family" further.
  • Eldest child. Eldest child (including twins and other multiples) of the family eligible to apply, at the date of application.Dalriada School: Eldest child criterion (2025)Checked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Criterion 4 Children who, at the date of their application are the eldest child (including twins and other multiples) of the family eligible to apply for admission to Dalriada School.View the official source
  • No feeder schools or free school meals step. Neither appeared in the criteria, so the primary school your child attends did not affect the ranking.
  • Age last. Age of the child, preference to the older child (Criterion 5); nothing further stated.Dalriada School: Final tie break (2025)Checked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Criterion 5 The age of the child, preference being given to an older child.View the official source

Children who could not sit SEAG. All applicants are expected to sit SEAG. Special Provision (outside NI, more than half of primary education outside NI, unable to sit or sat one paper, or exceptionally not registered) is considered on other evidence and every Special Provision applicant must take a psychometric assessment administered by the school.Dalriada School: Applicants without result (2025)Checked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: all special provision applicants must undergo a psychometric assessment administered by Dalriada School.View the official source

Special circumstances. Form SC from the school website uploaded to the EA portal with supporting evidence at the time of application (medical evidence of examination at the time; educational evidence such as Year 5-7 standardised tests); Education Committee decides and assigns a score.Dalriada School: Special circumstances (2025)Checked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: (ii) Download and complete Form SC from the Dalriada School website and upload on to the EA portal along with supporting evidence. To validate the claim it is essential that all evidence is documented and provided at the time of applicationView the official source The school stresses that evidence has to be complete when you apply, not sent later.

Waiting list (2025 criteria). For places arising after 1 September 2025, parents write to the Principal; criteria applied to the waiting listDalriada School: Waiting listChecked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: Parents who wish to have their child considered for admission in the event of a place arising after 1 September 2025 should write to the Principal clearly stating this. Should a vacancy arise, the above criteria will be applied to select pupils from our waiting list.View the official source.

The test

SEAG Entrance Assessment (the NI transfer test)
Test
SEAG Entrance Assessment (the NI transfer test)
Test date, 2027 entry
Saturday 14 November 2026

Dalriada's latest criteria expect every applicant to sit the SEAG test. The only measure of ability they used was the SEAG result, and it ranked children by Total Standardised Age Score rather than by band.

Before the papers, the school is running a session for parents: SEAG Familiarisation Morning for parents at Dalriada on Saturday 7 November 2026 (school Pupil Key Dates 2026-27, subject to change).Dalriada School: Seag datesChecked 9 Oct 2026 against Dalriada School.The source says: 7th November 2026 | SEAG Familiarisation Morning | ParentsView the official source That is a week before Paper 1 on Saturday 14 November 2026SEAG (Northern Ireland): Paper1Checked 9 Oct 2026 against SEAG (Schools' Entrance Assessment Group).The source says: Saturday, 14th November 2026View the official source. Paper 2 follows on Saturday 21 November 2026SEAG (Northern Ireland): Paper2Checked 9 Oct 2026 against SEAG (Schools' Entrance Assessment Group).The source says: Saturday, 21st November 2026View the official source.

For how the papers and scores work, see our SEAG transfer test guide and results explained.

How the Northern Ireland test works

Open days

Next: Open Morning, Sat 9 Jan 2027

  1. Done: Open Morning (passed)

    9.00am to 12.30pm

  2. Coming up: Open Morning

  3. Coming up: Supplementary Open Afternoon

    3.45pm

  4. Coming up: P6 SEAG Information Session

    7pm

Source: Dalriada School, checked

If you are refused a place

Reviews, appeals and the waiting list

General information, not legal advice.

This is general information, not legal advice.

If Dalriada cannot offer a place, the Education Authority will tell you how to appeal. The tribunal checks how the criteria were applied, and it works only from what the school had in front of it: Only the evidence the board of governors had when it offered places; the tribunal does not challenge the criteria.Northern Ireland: Evidence limitChecked 9 Oct 2026 against nidirect (NI Government).The source says: The tribunal considers the evidence available to the school's board of governors when they offered school places to children. The tribunal cannot take into account any additional information that wasn't available to the board of governors when they offered places. The tribunal doesn't challenge a school's admissions criteria.View the official source The 2027 appeal deadline is 4pm, Thursday 20 May 2027Northern Ireland transfer: Appeal deadlineChecked 17 Oct 2026 against nidirect (NI Government).The source says: The deadline for receipt of appeal forms against Year 8 decisions by post-primary schools is Thursday 20 May 2027, no later than 4.00 pm.View the official source. For 2026 entry it was 4pm on Thursday 21 May 2026Northern Ireland 2026 entry: Appeal deadlineChecked 9 Oct 2026 against nidirect (NI Government).The source says: The deadline for receipt of appeal forms against Year 8 decisions by post-primary schools is Thursday 21 May 2026, no later than 4.00 pm.View the official source.

Official documents and sources

4 sources, each kept as an archived copy

ExamKind is independent. We are not connected with Dalriada School, its council or any test provider, and nobody pays to appear on this page. How we check facts · Report an error on this page