Segregation in Bangor schools

The DUP are an absolute shower but it's worth exploring the state of secondary education beyond making that obvious point.

In Bangor, as with most areas, the existence of Grammar schools is probably the primary driver of segregation. It's not Catholic / Protestant but socio economic.

Based on 2019 data, Bangor Grammar and Glenlola had 14% and 13% of students who received free school meals*. In Bangor Academy and St Columbanus it was 30% and 35%. The simple fact is that certain parents value education and will push their kids academically to get them into Grammar schools if they are able, which tend to be less segregated than secondary schools.

In Bangor, as with most areas, the existence of Catholic schools is probably the secondary driver of segregation. If you're Catholic and not the sort of parent who pushes your kids towards Grammar schooling, or if your kid isn't academically gifted, you'll almost certainly send them to the Catholic school. Interestingly, the Catholic secondary school in Bangor has a significant number of Protestant kids - likely as it's preferable to the much larger state secondary school.

What's obvious in Bangor is that parents overwhelmingly want integration. Protestant parents that is. Parents from the 97% Protestant / Other Bangor academy voted for integration with an 80% majority. Protestant parents from Bangor send their kids to the Catholic school and have been doing so since I was at school!

I think Bangor Academy is destined to remain a vastly Protestant majority school unless either academic selection or the Catholic maintained sector is overhauled.

Granting the school integrated status when it is unlikely to ever get remotely close to stated goal of 40% Catholic, 40% Protestant and 20% other would make a farce of the entire concept.

*Don't attack me, FSM is a metric collected and shared by the educated department and used as an indicator of social inequality / deprivation.