Pupils’ community backgrounds to be recorded under Givan’s integrated education proposals

Pupils’ community backgrounds would be recorded separately from their religion under proposals aimed at changing how schools seeking integrated status demonstrate they can bring Protestant and Catholic children together.

Education Minister Paul Givan has set out plans for a new monitoring question as he urged schools to build integration before applying for formal recognition—and accused integrated education campaigners of having “lost their way”.

For families and schools, the proposals could change how community mixing is measured and the evidence used to assess applications. However, no implementation date has been confirmed.

The Department’s position paper, published today, reports that 31 of Northern Ireland’s 33 schools which had changed to integrated status had a minority-tradition population below 25% in 2025/26.

Community background alongside religion

The proposed question would record community background as Protestant, Roman Catholic or Other/None, alongside existing information about religion.

The distinction matters because a family may identify with a Protestant or Catholic community background without practising that religion.

Givan says the current arrangements do not always provide a sufficiently clear picture. Parents are asked to select their child’s religion but receive no departmental guidance on the basis for that choice.

“Accordingly, my Department will develop proposals to amend its monitoring form to add a distinct community background question to assist in assessing the ‘reasonable numbers’ requirement,” the paper states.

Criticism of campaigners

The statement goes further than explaining the proposed changes, challenging both the results of school transformation and the arguments made by those campaigning for it.

Givan writes:

“In recent years it is hard to avoid the conclusion that those campaigning for Integrated Education have lost their way - failing to deliver schools which meet the legal requirements and often making implausible claims regarding the likelihood of achieving ‘reasonable numbers’.”

The paper does not identify the campaigners or individual claims to which that criticism refers.

However, when discussing the obstacles facing schools seeking to transform, he says those difficulties should not be regarded as a criticism of the schools themselves, describing them as a product of the legal framework and historic trends.

What the figures show

According to the Department, 31 of 33 transformed schools—93.9%—had fewer than a quarter of their pupils drawn from the smaller Protestant or Catholic tradition in 2025/26.

Across all 71 integrated primary and post-primary schools in its analysis, 48—67.6%—recorded a fall in the percentage of pupils from the minority religion between 2024/25 and 2025/26. The remaining 23 recorded an increase.

These figures describe the proportion of pupils recorded within religious groups. A falling percentage does not necessarily mean fewer children from that group attended: its numbers could rise while other groups grew faster.

Nor do the figures alone establish whether relationships between children, inclusion or understanding of different backgrounds have improved.

An aspiration is not a legal minimum

The minister also says no integrated school currently meets the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education’s aspiration for the smaller Protestant or Catholic tradition to represent 40% of enrolment.

That aspiration should not be confused with a universal legal minimum. Likewise, the paper’s finding about schools below 25% does not establish that every school in that category fails the law.

The statement does not provide the underlying school-by-school dataset or a detailed explanation of its methodology.

Its reliance on religious statistics also sits alongside an acknowledgement that those records do not always adequately capture community background—the problem the proposed question is intended to address.

Schools urged to build integration first

Transformation is the process through which an existing school changes to integrated status.

Givan argues that schools should demonstrate progress in attracting and involving families from both traditions before submitting an application.

“We are shifting the focus towards supporting schools to build integration before formal transformation takes place. Real integration is achieved through sustained engagement, community confidence and increasing participation from both traditions over time,” he said.

“Transformation should recognise and formalise progress that has already been achieved, rather than begin it. Lasting integration is achieved through genuine cultural and demographic change, not simply through a change in school designation alone.”

Three-year support programme

The Department has introduced a structured three-year Integrated Education Support Programme to help schools develop relationships, practices and community engagement before applying.

The statement does not announce a compulsory three-year waiting period for all applications.

Givan acknowledges that local population patterns and historic enrolment can make achieving a substantial mix difficult.

“In many cases, demographic factors and historic patterns of enrolment make this a difficult hurdle to overcome,” he said.

The legal test remains

The Department has a duty to encourage, facilitate and support integrated education. However, it must also be satisfied that a school seeking transformation would be likely to provide integrated education as defined in law.

That definition includes educating reasonable numbers of Protestant and Roman Catholic children together, alongside children of different cultures, beliefs, socio-economic circumstances and abilities.

The position paper cites recent Court of Appeal judgments in support of the requirement, which Givan describes as a legal obligation rather than an administrative preference.

The statement does not announce the withdrawal of integrated status from existing schools.

School mergers raised as another route

Givan also calls for serious consideration of amalgamations between schools serving different traditions, arguing that bringing school communities together could help achieve greater representation from both backgrounds.

He notes that the overwhelming majority of transformations have come from the controlled sector, while only one maintained school has completed the process.

The paper identifies integrated and jointly managed schools as possible routes, but names no proposed mergers or schools affected.

For schools currently considering transformation, the immediate position is that the existing legal test remains. The Department intends to develop the new community-background question, but has not yet set out when it will begin or how it will affect applications already awaiting a decision.

The full position paper is available on the Department of Education website⁠.