Frequently Asked Questions

The Schools’ Entrance Assessment Group (SEAG) is a not for profit, private limited company, open to all 63 of the post-primary schools in N. Ireland which use academic selection for all or part of their Year 8 intake. As a private company SEAG is not under the control of the Department of Education, the Education Authority or any public body and does not report to the Department of Education, the Education Authority or any public body. SEAG includes Controlled and Voluntary Grammar Schools and Integrated Schools in its membership. 

The role of SEAG is to provide an Entrance Assessment with standardised outcomes (results) for pupils who will be transferring from primary school and who may wish to transfer to one of the schools which uses SEAG outcomes within its Admissions Criteria.

All of the 63 post-primary schools in N. Ireland which use academic criteria within their year 8 Admissions Criteria are members of SEAG. A list of SEAG schools is provided on the Member Schools page.

Children born between 2nd July 2013 and 1st July 2014, who will be transferring from primary to year 8 post-primary education in September 2025, are eligible to take the SEAG 2024 Entrance Assessment. SEAG recognises that there is a small number of children whose dates of birth fall outside this range but who, in September 2025, will be transferring from primary to year 8 post-primary education a year “earlier” or a year “later” than the normal transfer year. Such children are also eligible to take the SEAG 2024 Entrance Assessment.

Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs do not need to sit the Entrance Assessment because a separate Year 8 Admissions Process applies to them and the SEAG outcomes do not form part of that process.

There is a non-refundable administration fee of £20 to register a child to sit the Entrance Assessment. Parents of pupils with a Free School Meals Entitlement (FSME) are exempt from the £20 fee (FSME evidence will be required).

There are two stages to this process:

Stage 1: You (as a parent / guardian of the child) register yourself on the portal in the SEAG website www.seagni.co.uk.

Stage 2: Having completed a Parent / Guardian Registration for yourself you will then be able to make a Pupil Application, on the portal, to register the child to sit the Entrance Assessment.

You need to complete a Pupil Application so that SEAG has all the details it needs to be able to put arrangements in place for your child to take the Entrance Assessment on 16th November 2024 and 23rd November 2024 in one of the SEAG Assessment Centres. Only pupils for whom a Pupil Application has been completed are registered to sit the Entrance Assessment.

The Registration and Application processes will open at 8am on Monday 20th May and close at 11:59pm on Friday 20th September 2024.

Yes, once a Parent / Guardian has registered he / she will be able to make two Pupil Applications. 

From Monday 20th May at 8am you will be able to Access our online Registration. 

Firstly, you will need to make a Parent/Guardian account to create your log in details which you should keep secure as you will need these to Register, seek Support and access the Pupil Outcomes. Once you have made your Parent/Guardian account and logged in you will be brought to your Dashboard. 

From here you can select "Create Application" where you will be taken to the initial page giving you information that you need to make the Application. Once you are ready select APPLY NOW! To complete the 9 steps.

Step 1. Key in basic information about the child. 

Step 2. Upload Pupil Image. This should be a passport style photo of the pupil. Photos taken on smart devices work well. Ensure live capture is turned off.

Step 3. Upload the child birth certificate, or deed poll, ensuring all text is legible and that the full name and date of birth match the name and date of birth you entered in Registration.

Step 4. This step has 4 questions. You will need to answer YES or NO to all 4 questions. By answering YES to any of these questions you will be brought to an Access Arrangements Application after the payment/waiver screen. On the Access Arrangements form you will have more detailed options to choose from to best describe your need or to make SEAG aware of a condition. We encourage you read the Access Arrangements Policy, Procedures and Guidelines www.seagni.co.uk/resources to help in this step. 

Step 5. Enter the pupil Primary School details. There is a drop down list to help you. If your child’s school name is very common e.g. ”St Mary’s”, make sure you select the actual school your child attends and not another school with a similar name.

Step 6. Enter a secondary Emergency contact for the pupil.

Step 7. Select, from a drop down list, your chosen Assessment Centre and choose if you would like to the child to sit the Assessment in English or Gaeilge. Please note that if an Assessment Centre is full when you are making a Pupil Application it cannot be chosen. 

Please make sure you are aware where the Assessment Centre you have chose is located.

Step 8. Review your application. This is an important step to review and make any corrections if needed. You will also be able to view the documents you have uploaded to ensure they are suitable.

This step also includes tick boxes to Declare that you confirm that all the information you have provided is accurate and that you accept any liability for providing inaccurate information. You also accept all responsibilities as parent/guardian of the pupil for whom this application is made. You will also need to read and agree to our Terms and Conditions.

Step 9. Free School Meals/Payment. You will need to answer the drop-down question – "Is the pupil eligible for Free School Meals?" If you answer Yes, you will be prompted to upload supporting evidence. If you select No you will be taken to the payment page. Once you have uploaded your FSM evidence or made your payment the next screen which states:

Submitted!

Thank you! Your application has been successfully submitted and SEAG will send you an email 

What's Next...

We’ll be in touch if we have any queries regarding your application.

No, you will need to set up a new Parent/Guardian account to make the new application for the 2024-25 pupil. You will be able to use the same email and details to make the account.  

If you need to access any information from your 2023-24 account you can access this from the login page. Select the banner at the top of the screen (before you log in) to access your 2023-24 information. The log in details for that year will have remained the same.

All 63 schools have worked very hard to try to ensure that, SEAG will be able to accommodate all registered pupils within a reasonable travelling time from their homes and to ensure that responsibility for accommodating pupils is spread fairly across all schools. 

As part of the Pupil Application process, you will choose where you would like your child to sit the Entrance Assessment. A drop-down list will show you all the schools (Centres) which can accommodate your child. You should select the Centre which is most convenient for you from that list. Although the drop-down list will initially contain all 63 schools, it is possible that, over time, a school could reach its maximum capacity. If that happens the school will not be available from the drop-down list.

No. The Assessment and Admission processes are entirely separate. Irrespective of where your child takes the Entrance Assessment you may apply for a Year 8 place in any of the SEAG schools. All SEAG schools will accept the results of children who take the SEAG Entrance Assessment regardless of the Centre where they have taken the assessment.

Yes. Both English and Gaeilge versions of the Assessment will be available. 

The invigilation of children who take the Irish Medium version of the Entrance Assessment is conducted in Irish and so needs to take place in an Assessment Centre which can offer the Invigilation in Irish. SEAG has 12 Centres providing Invigilation in Irish. When selecting your Assessment Centre during Registration you will be made aware of Centres that offer Irish Invigilation. Below is also a list of those Centres.

Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School      (Newry)

Assumption Grammar School             (Ballynahinch)

Christian Brothers' Grammar School         (Omagh)

Loreto Grammar School               (Omagh)

Limavady Grammar School             (Limavady)

Mount Lourdes Grammar School           (Enniskillen)

St Dominic's High School               (Belfast)

St Joseph's Grammar School             (Donaghmore)

St Louis Grammar School              (Ballymena)

St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School     (Belfast)

St Mary's Grammar School              (Magherafelt)

Thornhill College                  (Derry)

The SEAG Entrance Assessment consists of two papers. Paper 1 will be taken on Saturday 16th November 2024 and Paper 2 on Saturday 23rd November 2024. Both papers assess English (or Gaeilge) and Mathematics and both have an identical format consisting of three Sections:

The first Section, the Practice Test Section, has 5 English (or Gaeilge questions) followed by 5 Maths questions. These questions are designed to help pupils settle before the Main Test begins. The Practice Test is not assessed or timed.

An invigilator takes the pupils through the Practice Test Section, reads out instructions for the Main Test and tells them when they can start the Main Test. The 60 minute* timing starts when pupils are told they can start the Main Test (*or longer time if pupils have been granted additional time as an Access Arrangement).

The second Section is the English (or Gaeilge) Main Test. It has 28 questions(Q1-Q28).

There is a “Punctuation Exercise” containing 5 multiple choice questions, a “Grammar Exercise” also with 5 multiple choice questions and a “Spelling Exercise” with 5 multiple choice questions (Q1-Q15).

This is followed by an “English (or Gaeilge) Comprehension”. Pupils carefully read a passage and are then asked 13 questions; 7 of these are multiple choice (Q16-Q22). The final 6 questions (Q23-Q28) are described as “free response”; the pupil writes the answer to each in the space provided in the Answer Sheet.

The third Section is the Maths Main Test. It also has 28 questions (Q29-Q56).

The first 22 Maths questions (Q29-Q50) are multiple choice questions. The final 6 Maths questions (Q51-Q56) are described as “free response”. For each of these questions the pupil works out the correct answer and writes the answer in the space provided in the Answer Sheet.

Pupils will have 60 minutes to answer the 56 Main Test questions. 

They can choose to start with the English (or Gaeilge) questions or with the Maths questions.

Each of the multiple choice questions has 5 possible answers.

The Specification is set out in the “Specification for the 2024 Entrance Assessment” and the “Gaeilge Specification for the 2024 Entrance Assessment“ documents which you can download from www.seagni.co.uk.

The SEAG Entrance Assessment is being set and marked by GL Assessment.

GL Assessment are a world leader in the provision of high quality assessments for schools and school groups, having over 40 years’ experience of developing robust assessments. GL are the largest independent provider of educational assessments in the UK and Ireland and their products are used by over 19,000 schools in 111 countries to support children’s learning. GL Assessment tests are used every year by the vast majority of UK primary and post-primary schools, including many schools in N. Ireland. You may be familiar with your child taking the Progress Test English or Progress Test Maths assessments in primary school; these are GL Assessment products.

Yes. Ahead of the Entrance Assessment, SEAG and GL Assessment have worked together to produce two official Practice Papers along with an Answer Sheet for each paper for pupils to use, plus a Parents’ Guide with Answer Keys to both papers. Parents can be assured that these are the official SEAG/GL Practice Papers 1 and 2 and their Answer Sheets, available in both English and Gaeilge, commissioned by SEAG and produced by GL Assessment to follow the format of an actual SEAG Entrance Assessment paper. These papers and the Answer Sheets have the GL Assessment logo on the front page. 

All the Practice Papers, Answer Sheets and the “SEAG Practice Papers 1 and 2 with Answer Keys – Parents’ Guide” are free to download from our website. These materials should help everyone gain a clearer understanding of the format of the Entrance Assessment. The “SEAG Practice Papers 1 and 2 with Answer Keys – Parents’ Guide“ provides helpful detail as well as containing the correct answers to all the questions.

No, SEAG do not sell any practice papers. SEAG have made available two practice papers in English and Gaeilge.  

You should support the work of your child’s teacher in the primary school by ensuring that homework is always completed to a high standard and by encouraging your child to read beyond the reading homework set by his/her teacher. SEAG schools are not suggesting or requesting the primary schools to teach beyond the requirements of the NI Curriculum or wishing them to adjust their teaching programmes by concentrating on preparation for the Entrance Assessment. Your child should be well prepared for the Entrance Assessment by being taught English and Maths within the NI Curriculum to the usual high standards of his/her primary school.

It is the Parent(s)/Guardian(s) responsibility to inform SEAG of any medical need. You may inform SEAG of any Special Educational Needs. You should go to the Access Arrangements Documentation www.seagni.co.uk/resources whether or not you are requesting reasonable adjustments or just informing SEAG. It is important to follow the Access Arrangements policy and Guidance documents.

If Access Arrangements have not been requested they cannot be added to an existing Pupil Application. You will need to make a completely new pupil application and select “Request Access Arrangements” during that process. Once you have made the new pupil application which Requests Access Arrangements you should then Withdraw the original application.

If you have answered yes to any question in Step 4 you will be brought to an Access Arrangements application after payment or waiver has been submitted. Please refer to The Access Arrangements Policy, Procedures and Guidance www.seagni.co.uk/resources Effective from 20th May 2024 for information on completing the Access Arrangements information to inform us of a medical condition.

Please refer to The Access Arrangements Policy, Procedures and Guidance Effective from 20th May 2024, Page 12 www.seagni.co.uk/resources 

If you have answered yes to any question in Step 4 you will be brought to an Access Arrangements application after payment or waiver has been submitted. Please refer to The Access Arrangements Policy, Procedures and Guidance www.seagni.co.uk/resources Effective from 20th May 2024 for information on completing the Access Arrangements information to inform us of a medical condition.

If you have made your Pupil Application and selected that you are requesting Access Arrangements, you will be directed to the Access Arrangements Section after you have completed the Payment Step. The Access Arrangements Section of the application can be completed now or at a later date. We recommend you complete this section as soon as you can. You can add to or amend the information and documentation you are providing before you submit this Section to SEAG. You must submit the Access Arrangements part of the application before the Registration closing date Friday 20th September 11:59pm. Your Assessment Centre choice has been secured if you have paid the Administration Fee or provided appropriate FSME payment exemption evidence. 

SEAG has an “Emergency Access Arrangements process to help such pupils. Please refer to The Access Arrangements Policy, Procedures and Guidance

Effective from 20th May 2024, Emergency Access Arrangements Page 15

Please refer to The Access Arrangements Policy, Procedures and Guidance

Effective from 20th May 2024

Proof of referral from a suitably qualified, independent source will be taken into consideration by the Independent Access Panel, alongside evidence of Normal Way of Working, when making their decision to grant or not to grant the Access request.

It is planned that SEAG results will be released on Saturday 25th January 2025. You will be able to access your child’s results in “Statement of Outcomes” by logging onto your SEAG account.

SEAG is very clear that its Entrance Assessment consists of two papers. A pupil who only takes one paper (i.e., either Paper 1 or Paper 2 but not both) will not have completed the full Entrance Assessment. Such pupils will, however, have their “single paper” marked by GL Assessment and will receive a Statement of Outcomes. Outcomes for pupils who only sit one paper will have the designation “e” (for estimate) immediately after the Outcome, e.g., Total Standardised Age Score TSAS 196e; Band 3e. Parents/Guardians will then need to, if applying to an academically selective school read the Admissions Criteria of their preferred Post Primary school to ascertain the protocol on how a school processes an Estimated Outcome.

Although SEAG provides the Entrance Assessment and Statements of Outcomes for each pupil it has no role or involvement in decisions as to how each SEAG school uses those Outcomes. Decisions relating to the Year 8 Admissions Criteria such as whether to use Total Standardised Age Score, Band, a combination of both or by some other method are entirely a matter for the Board of Governors of each SEAG school. 

Each Board of Governors has a responsibility to publish its Admissions Criteria for Year 8 September 2025 Entry. These Criteria are published in the 2024-25 school year before parents / guardians begin the Post Primary Transfer Application Process.

The Statement of Outcomes is a page which sets out how your child has performed in the SEAG Entrance Assessment. The results it contains are based on your child’s total overall performance across the two papers which make up the SEAG Entrance Assessment. The key outcomes which are most likely to be used by SEAG schools within their Year 8 Admissions Criteria are the Total Standardised Age Score (TSAS) and the Band.

The Total Standardised Age Score (TSAS) is the overall outcome from the Entrance Assessment, based on the 56 English (or Gaeilge) Questions in Papers 1 and 2 and the 56 Maths questions in 

Papers 1 and 2. The Total SAS is the sum of the English (or Gaeilge) SAS and the Maths SAS. The Total SAS range will be 138-282 with a mean (or average) of 200.

A Standardised Age Score (SAS) takes account of a child’s age when he/she took the assessment, the number of correct answers and the degree of difficulty of the assessment. 

Outcomes are also given as one of six Bands. The Bands are designated as Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5 and Band 6 and Cohort* Percentiles are used to determine the borderline for each Band. * *Cohort means all those who take the SEAG Entrance Assessment in a given year.

SEAG Band & Cohort Percentile

SEAG Band     Cohort Percentile

Band 1             60%+

Band 2             50-59%

Band 3             40-49%

Band 4             30-39%

Band 5             20-29%

Band 6             

Yes, as well as receiving the Total Standardised Age Score (TSAS) and Band you will be given your child’s English (or Gaeilge) SAS, their Maths SAS and further information about the Cohort Percentile Ranking (CPR).

The English (or Gaeilge) SAS is the Standardised Age Score based on answers to the 56 English (or Gaeilge) questions. The English (or Gaeilge) SAS range will be 69-141 with a mean (or average) of 100 and it is provided to inform parents and primary school teachers as to how their children have performed in this aspect of the Entrance Assessment.

The Maths SAS is the Standardised Age Score based on answers to the 56 Maths questions. The Maths SAS range will be 69-141 with a mean (or average) of 100 and it is provided to inform parents and primary school teachers as to how their children have performed in this aspect of the Entrance Assessment.

You may be familiar with the scores from standardised tests used in your child’s primary school, e.g., Progress Test in English and/or Progress Test in Maths, which also use this scale. 

Further Information about the Cohort* Percentile Ranking (CPR): Pupils in Band 1 will be in the top 40% of those who sat the Assessment. Bands 2-5 will each contain 10% of the total cohort. 

Additionally, Parents/Guardians will be provided with other outcomes relating to e.g. How many questions there child answered correctly in English (or Gaeilge) and in Maths and also how their child performed in Paper 1 and in Paper 2.

If you would like your child to sit the SEAG 2024 Entrance Assessment but cannot make an online Pupil Application because you have no access to a laptop, tablet or smartphone you should make contact with the Assessment Centre where you would like your child to sit the Assessment, and give the Centre your contact details, in writing. The Centre will forward those details to SEAG and SEAG will then get in touch with you to progress the Pupil Application.

Log out of your browser and re start your device if you can. Then log into SEAG using www.seagni.co.uk Then type in your email address (Do Not use autofill). If you have forgotten your password then select forgot password and follow instructions. Alternatively, you could try a different device. Hopefully this should get you back into your account.

No. The image you provide must be in the style of a passport photo. A clear background and only the pupil in the image. The image can be taken on a mobile device and uploaded to your application.

SEAG require a copy of the child’s birth certificate or Deed Poll. SEAG can also accept Asylum Seekers identity cards showing both sides to include child’s name and Date of Birth. If you cannot find the child birth certificate you could ask the primary school if they hold a copy or you can request a replacement for the Births, Deaths and Marriages Offices.

When you reach the Payment page of the Pupil Application you will have the opportunity to select FSM (free school meals) payment exemption. You will need to provide clear and current evidence of the pupil’s entitlement to FSM. The FSM evidence must include the pupils name and Academic year of Entitlement. SEAG will accept 23/24 and 24/25 documentation which must be:

• A copy of a FSME confirmation email from the Education Authority (EA) OR
• A screenshot from your EA Portal account which provides evidence of FSME OR
• A copy of an EA “Entitlement Letter”. 

Documents must show the child’s name, date of birth and that the FSME is current.

The Pupil Card is the identity document which your child will need to bring to the Assessment Centre on the dates of the Assessment. Pupil Cards will be available to download, from parents’/guardian’s accounts in the portal, after registration has closed on Friday 20th September 2024.

A Pupil Card includes your child’s full name, Date of Birth, the Assessment Centre you selected, a copy of the photographic ID you provided and the dates of the Assessment. 

You will need to download and print your Pupil Card.

The pupil will need to bring the Pupil Card to the Assessment Centre on both assessment days.

To print your pupil card, please follow the steps below.

Log in to your account.

Select Dashboard

Select the pupil’s name

From here there will be a banner DOWNLOAD PUPIL CARD. Select this, then follow your device’s instructions for printing.

The UPN is a pupil’s Unique Pupil Number. Each pupil who is registered to sit the SEAG Entrance Assessment has a different UPN. This number should be used for all correspondence to SEAG. The pupil name, date of birth and UPN will be printed on to the Answer Sheet used at the Entrance Assessment and allows SEAG and GL Assessment to correctly attribute the correct results to the correct pupil.

The SEAG 2024 Pupil Application process allows you to make some changes to a Pupil Application which has already been submitted, if key details have changed. To make a change: 

1. Log into SEAG
2. Select the Pupil’s Application
3. Select ACTION at top of screen
4. Select AMEND APPLICATION.

From here you can make the changes you need you need. This includes changing photographic ID, address, primary school details etc.

Please note you CANNOT amend a Pupil Application which has already been submitted in order to change your choice of Assessment Centre. 

After you have submitted your Pupil Application you will receive the following email: 

 “This email is to confirm you have registered a pupil, pending verification from SEAG.

Please note, all applications will be reviewed and verified by the SEAG team. We will contact you if there is an issue with the application.

Next Steps

• Access Arrangements - If you made an Access Arrangements Request, this will be reviewed separately by the Access Panel and you will receive an email once an Access Arrangement decision has been made. Please note, the pupil's place at the Assessment Centre you selected is being held.
• Pupil Card - Parents/Guardians will be able to download the Pupil Card after the registration period has closed in late September.
• FSME - If your claim for Free School Meals is unsuccessful because of inadequate evidence, you will receive an email that payment is required. Unpaid applications will not be valid and the pupil will not be registered.
• Changing Assessment Centre - If you wish to change Assessment.”

SEAG will contact you if there is any issue regarding your Pupil Registration. If there is no issue you will not receive an updated email after verification. SEAG will ONLY contact you if there is an issue. If you do not receive a follow up email then you can assume that your Pupil Application has been verified.

As part of the Pupil Application process you will have the opportunity to check and change the Assessment Centre on the Review page. Once you have submitted your Registration you will no longer be able to change Assessment Centre on that Pupil Application.  

To change the Assessment Centre after you have submitted a Pupil Application you would need to make a completely new Pupil Application and withdraw the original Pupil Application. SEAG would advise parents who wish to change their choice of Assessment Centre to make the new Pupil Application before withdrawing the existing Pupil Application, in case there are no places remaining at the new Assessment Centre, when the new Pupil Application is being submitted. Please note that if you withdraw a Pupil Application before making a new Pupil Application your child will not be registered to sit the SEAG Entrance Assessment until a new Pupil Application has been submitted. If you make a new Pupil Application you will also need to make payment or supply FSME payment exemption evidence again. Refunds of the Administration Fee will not be given for changing Assessment Centres. 

Parents / Guardians have the responsibility to ensure that their children arrive in the SEAG Assessment Centre in good time on the Entrance Assessment days. Pupils cannot be admitted after the Assessment has started.

A Pupil Application can be withdrawn, by the parent, at any time up until the close of the Registration Period. (Friday 20th September 2024)

1. Log into your account

2. Select the child’s application.

3. Select AMEND at the top of the page.

4. Select WITHDRAW PUPIL.

Please note that Withdrawing the Pupil Application means they will no longer be able to sit the SEAG Entrance Assessment because they are no longer registered.

The Registration fee is non-refundable.  

No. There is no “third Entrance Assessment day” – Any pupils who are absent on one of the two days will only have sat part of the full Entrance Assessment and will receive estimated outcomes.

If a child is unwell when sitting one of the Assessment Papers this can be taken into account. This happens as part of the Post Primary Transfer Application Process which begins around February 2025 and is run by the Education Authority, not SEAG. It cannot happen as part of the marking process because GL Assessment can only mark the answers which each pupil has provided. 

Academically selective post-primary schools include, within their Year 8 Admissions Criteria, something which is usually referred to as “Special Circumstances”. This allows a parent, when making their post primary transfer application to, for example, ask the post-primary school to take account of their child being unwell when sitting one of the Entrance Assessment Papers. The parent provides documentary evidence to support their “Claim for Special Circumstances” and the post primary school has a responsibility to consider all the evidence provided. This process is completely outside the remit of SEAG 

It is up to the Parent/Guardian to read and familiarise themselves with the Year 8 Post Primary Schools Admissions Criteria for any schools which they are considering for their child.