Education Inequalities in Northern Ireland Final report to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland March 2015 Prepared by: Dr Stephanie Burns Prof Ruth Leitch Prof Joanne Hughes School of Education Queen’s University Belfast Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 1. Introduction............................................................................................................... 20 Aims and Objectives ................................................................................................................................................ 20 Achieving the Aims and Objectives ................................................................................................................... 21 Methods ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Quantitative data .................................................................................................................................................. 23 Qualitative data ..................................................................................................................................................... 23 Literature review ................................................................................................................................................. 23 Stakeholder consultation .................................................................................................................................. 24 Report Structure ................................................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2. Education in Northern Ireland ............................................................................ 26 Structure and Management .................................................................................................................................. 26 Further Education in Northern Ireland ........................................................................................................... 29 Job Training Programmes in Northern Ireland ............................................................................................ 30 Higher Education in Northern Ireland ............................................................................................................. 31 Curriculum and Assessment ................................................................................................................................ 32 Other Local Governmental Policies, Equality Law and International Standards in Relation to Educational Equality ............................................................................................................................................... 34 Key Education Data in Northern Ireland ........................................................................................................ 38 Overall population: Highest Level of Qualification ..................................................................................... 39 Chapter 3: Gender Inequalities in Education ...................................................................... 40 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 40 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................................................... 41 Transgender young people and inequalities in education ...................................................................... 47 Findings from Quantitative Data ........................................................................................................................ 49 Primary and Post-primary Level (Source: DENI) ................................................................................... 49 Further Education (Source: DEL) .................................................................................................................. 56 Training, Apprenticeships, and Employment Programmes (Source: DEL) ................................. 58 Higher Education (Source: DEL) .................................................................................................................... 62 Overall Population (Source: Census) ........................................................................................................... 69 Gender X School Type ........................................................................................................................................ 70 2 Post-primary Level (Source: DENI) .............................................................................................................. 70 Findings from Qualitative Data ........................................................................................................................... 75 Gender-related barriers to education equality ........................................................................................ 75 Education Inequalities for Transgender People .......................................................................................... 76 Findings from Qualitative Data ........................................................................................................................... 76 At primary school and post-primary school: ............................................................................................ 76 At the post-compulsory level/third level education: ............................................................................ 81 Potential gender-related enablers to education equality.................................................................... 82 Summary ...................................................................................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 4: Age Inequalities in Education.............................................................................. 88 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 88 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................................................... 88 Findings from Quantitative Data ........................................................................................................................ 92 Further Education (Source: DEL) .................................................................................................................. 92 Training, Apprenticeships, and Employment Programmes (Source: DEL) ................................. 96 Higher Education (Source: DEL) .................................................................................................................... 99 Overall Population (Source: Labour Force Survey; Census) ............................................................ 108 Findings from Qualitative Data ......................................................................................................................... 110 Age-related barriers to education equality ............................................................................................. 110 Potential age-related enablers to education equality ......................................................................... 111 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... 112 Chapter 5: Religious Belief Inequalities in Education ................................................... 114 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 114 Literature Review ................................................................................................................................................... 115 Findings from Quantitative Data ...................................................................................................................... 119 Pre-school, Primary, and Post-primary Level (Source: DENI) ........................................................ 119 Further Education (Source: DEL) ................................................................................................................ 125 Training, Apprenticeships, and Employment Programmes (Source: DEL) ............................... 128 Higher Education (Source: DEL) .................................................................................................................. 132 Overall Population (Sources: Census and Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey) ........... 140 Findings from Qualitative Data ......................................................................................................................... 142 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... 143 Chapter 6: Political Opinion Inequalities in Education ...............................................