3 February 2026
SDLP Opposition Education Spokesperson Cara Hunter MLA has said the end of academic selection in Northern Ireland is decades overdue.
She was speaking as a motion on academic selection was brought to the Assembly on Tuesday.
An SDLP amendment called on the Education Minister to introduce a clear timeline for ending academic selection and to work with the Communities Minister to tackle educational underachievement, learning lessons from progress in the South.
East Derry MLA Cara Hunter said:
“Throughout our party’s existence the SDLP has called for an end to academic selection to ensure equality of opportunity for young people across Northern Ireland. Every credible measure shows this outdated practice does not deliver the best educational outcomes and should have been ended long ago.
“It’s welcome that the Assembly is discussing this important issue, but today’s motion is non-binding and will not deliver the change needed. It has been brought forward by Sinn Féin, the party who failed to end this practice when they held the Education portfolio and actually made the system worse, privatising the transfer test system and creating chaos and confusion for schools in the process.
“Talking about academic selection will not make it disappear. This cannot be a one-day debate. The Executive and the Education Minister must act and use all of the tools at their disposal. The current system continues to fail young people, forcing children into an unfair and anxiety-driven ranking process at ten or 11 years of age, with consequences that follow them throughout their education and beyond.
“We have seen in the South the positive impact of ending academic selection in tackling educational underachievement and levelling the playing field for young people. Every child deserves the chance to pursue their education and reach their full potential and that will only be achieved by ending academic selection once and for all.”