The Department of Education has published its first annual assessment of parental demand for integrated schooling under the Integrated Education Act 2022. Released on 19 May 2026, the report records strong oversubscription at established post-primary integrated schools, alongside a more varied primary picture, and lands amid a broader demographic squeeze on Northern Ireland schooling, with overall pupil numbers projected to fall by 12.7% by 2033/34.
The Integrated Education Demand: Evidence, Insights, and Limitations report draws together admissions data, parental surveys, transformation ballot results and wider research. It is the Department’s inaugural assessment under Kellie Armstrong MLA’s 2022 Act, which obliges ministers to encourage, facilitate and support integrated education — a duty rooted in the 1998 Belfast Agreement’s commitment to integration as part of post-conflict reconciliation.
What the Report Records
At post-primary level, applications continue to outstrip places. Mid and East Antrim shows oversubscription of 44.0% for 2025/26 — meaning applications well exceeded approved admissions numbers — consistent with the long-standing waiting lists at flagship schools such as Lagan College, which the BBC reported last year was turning away families who had hoped to send their children to an integrated post-primary. The same BBC piece described the lack of post-primary integrated places as “frustrating” for affected families.
Patterns vary by region. Derry City and Strabane records 70.8% undersubscription at post-primary and Newry, Mourne and Down 35.0%. These figures sit alongside polling reported by the Derry Journal in which 74% of local respondents backed integrated education becoming the norm — a gap between stated support and enrolment behaviour that the report itself acknowledges may reflect geography, transport and the availability of nearby integrated provision rather than parental preference alone.
At primary level, the regional spread is wider. Ards and North Down recorded 40.3% undersubscription and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 27.6%, while Fermanagh and Omagh reached 0.0%. The Department notes these figures should be read against falling overall enrolments: undersubscription is a system-wide phenomenon, not unique to the integrated sector.
How Parents Rank Their Choices
Among parents who selected an integrated school as their first preference, 13% chose another integrated school as their second, while almost half chose a Controlled school. Queen’s University Belfast policy research has argued that measuring integrated demand through admissions data alone risks understating it, because parents in most areas have no second integrated option within reasonable travel distance. The Integrated Education Fund and NI Council for Integrated Education make a related point: with 76 integrated schools serving the whole of Northern Ireland, the binding constraint on take-up is typically supply, not appetite.
Minister Emphasises Proportionate Planning
Education Minister Paul Givan framed the report as a basis for measured decision-making. He said:
“The publication of this report is significant as we continue to deliver on our responsibilities under the Integrated Education Act 2022. For the first time, we now have a comprehensive and balanced assessment of demand, which draws on a range of evidence to support informed decision making across the system.
“This evidence shows that demand for Integrated Education is present but uneven. Pressures are concentrated in a relatively small number of schools. This reinforces the need to plan proportionately, using reliable evidence and aligning with wider demographic and sustainability challenges in education in Northern Ireland.”
The Minister added:
“My priority is to ensure that every child and young person can access high quality education that meets their needs. Where there is clear and demonstrable demand for Integrated Education, it is right that we respond. However, this must be done in a way that is sustainable, makes best use of public resources and is considered alongside broader area planning requirements.”
A Statutory Duty, Not Just a Market
The Minister’s emphasis on responding “where there is clear and demonstrable demand” sits in some tension with the broader legal and political framework around integrated education. The 1998 Belfast Agreement committed government to facilitating and encouraging integrated schooling as part of reconciliation; the Integrated Education Act 2022 placed that commitment on a statutory footing, creating a positive duty on the Department rather than a duty merely to accommodate consumer preference. On that reading, undersubscription in a given area is not a signal that integrated provision is unwarranted, but a question about why integration is not taking hold there and what the Department’s encouragement duty requires in response.
Integrated education grew from parental campaigning in the 1970s, when no political consensus existed to provide it. Three primary schools received Yes votes to transform in recent ballots, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland previously announced a £1.9m capital funding package for the sector, reflecting the policy view that integration warrants active support rather than passive responsiveness.
Questions the Report Leaves Open
- How does the Department interpret its statutory duty to “encourage, facilitate and support” integrated education when demand assessment shows uneven take-up — as a constraint on growth, or as a signal of where encouragement is most needed?
- To what extent does the 13% second-preference figure reflect parental priorities, and to what extent the simple absence of a second integrated school within reach?
- How does undersubscription in the integrated sector compare with undersubscription across Controlled, Maintained and Irish-medium sectors during a period of falling overall enrolments?
- What weight should transformation ballot outcomes, polling on attitudes to integration, and measures of latent demand carry alongside admissions data in future annual reports?
The publication establishes a baseline for annual monitoring under the 2022 Act. Future editions will show whether current patterns reflect shifts in parental preference, constraints on the supply side, the broader demographic squeeze, or the Department’s own choices about how actively to discharge its statutory duty to encourage integration.