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Royal Belfast Academical Institution: Year 8 entry

College Square East, Belfast, BT1 6DL

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 band or score stated; admission in band order up to 150.

    Checked, source: Royal Belfast Academical Institution, checked

  • Year 8 places

    150

    2026 entry, Published Admission Number ()

    Checked, source: Royal Belfast Academical Institution, 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. Royal Belfast Academical Institution'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Most Northern Ireland schools do not publish how far places reached.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

Royal Belfast Academical Institution in brief

tap a value for its source

Pupils
boysPupilsChecked 11 Oct 2026 against Royal Belfast Academical Institution.The source says: Boys GrammarView the official source
Who the school admits.
Year 8 places
150Year 8 placesChecked 11 Oct 2026 against Royal Belfast Academical Institution.The source says: 1.1 The School will admit 150 boys to the Main School, admittingView the official source2026 entry
The (PAN): how many children the school plans to admit.
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

10 admission rules, in order, for 2026 entry

If more children qualify than there are places, Royal Belfast Academical Institution gives places using these rules (its ), in this order (the 2026 rules; the rules for 2027 entry are not published yet).

  1. 1

    1.1.1 Boys in Band 1 before boys in Band 2

    The policy's own words
    1.1.1 boys in Band 1 before boys in Band 2,
  2. 2

    1.1.2 Band 2 before Band 3

    The policy's own words
    1.1.2 boys in Band 2 before those in Band 3,
  3. 3

    1.1.3 Band 3 before Band 4

    The policy's own words
    1.1.3 boys in Band 3 before those in Band 4,
  4. 4

    1.1.4 Band 4 before Band 5

    The policy's own words
    1.1.4 boys in Band 4 before those in Band 5,
  5. 5

    1.1.5 Band 5 before Band 6

    The policy's own words
    1.1.5 boys in Band 5 before those in Band 6.
  6. 6

    1.2 Accepted special cases are given an estimated SAS (using alternative academic evidence) and placed in the matching Band

    The policy's own words
    shall place that boy in the Band appropriate for that estimated SAS.
  7. 7

    3.1 Within a Band: a pupil of Inchmarlo (the School's preparatory department)

    The policy's own words
    3.1 An applicant who is a pupil of Inchmarlo;
  8. 8

    3.2 Within a Band: has, or has had at any time, a sibling attending the Main School

    The policy's own words
    3.2 An applicant who has, or has had at any time, a sibling attending the Main School;
  9. 9

    3.3 Within a Band: the only or eldest boy of his family

    The policy's own words
    3.3 An applicant who is the only or eldest boy of his family;
  10. 10

    3.4 Within a Band: computerised random selection

    The policy's own words
    3.4 An applicant selected by computerised random selection.

Source: Royal Belfast Academical Institution, checked

More detail from our guide

The school's website refused our automated request, so the gaps here are ours, not the school's. We cannot yet tell you how many Year 8 places RBAI offers, whether it ranks by exact score or by band, or what part siblings, an eldest child or a prep department play. A person on our desk is following this up.

When you look at RBAI's criteria yourself, note which September they apply to. Then check the order of the criteria, what settles a tie, and how the school handles a special circumstances claim.

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

RBAI has no entrance exam of its own. Pupils hoping to start there in Year 8 take the shared SEAG papers, and the Statement of Outcomes that follows carries a score and a band. Which of those RBAI leans on, and how far, is set out in its criteria, which we have not been able to read. For background, try our SEAG transfer test guide or the page on results explained.

How the Northern Ireland test works

Open days

Not published yet

Without access to the site, we have no confirmed open morning or evening. RBAI's own news pages, or a phone call to the school office, will have it.

If you are refused a place

Reviews, appeals and the waiting list

General information, not legal advice.

This is general information, not legal advice. Parents refused a place may appeal through the AT1 form, via the EA websiteNorthern Ireland: FormChecked 9 Oct 2026 against nidirect (NI Government).The source says: To appeal a school's decision that has refused your child a place, go to the EA website where you can send the appeal form (AT1 Form).View the official source. The panel looks at how RBAI applied its published rules, not at whether those rules are fair.

Official documents and sources

3 sources, each kept as an archived copy

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