St Marys Primary School Dechomet

When there are more applications than places for 2026-27 (P1), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1. 1Children of compulsory school age who normally reside in the parish of Drumgooland and in the historical catchment area. (The details of this area are available from the school).
2. 2Children who have brothers/sisters (including half-brothers, half-sisters, step brothers, step sisters, foster brothers and/or foster sisters) currently enrolled in St Mary’s Primary School.
3. 3Children of permanent employees of the school.
4. 4Children for whom St Mary’s Primary School is the closest voluntary primary school to their home.
5. 5Children who live closest to St Mary’s Primary School based on distance between the child’s place of residence and the entrance gate of the school as measured in a straight line on an Ordnance Survey Map.
6. 6In the event of a tie for last place at criterion 5, pupils will be selected for admission on the basis of initial letter of surname (as entered on Birth Certificate) in order set out below: K D G C R S W Z X F H L P J A E Q O B T I M V U Y N This order was determined by a randomised selection of the letters of the alphabet. In the event of the surnames beginning with the same letter the subsequent letters of the surname will be used. In the event of two identical surnames the first initial of the forename will be used. In the event that there are more applicants, complying with a particular criterion than there are places available or remaining those applicants complying with that criterion will go forward to be considered under the next criterion and those not complying with that criterion will be eliminated. Parents/Guardians should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admissions criteria is stated on the application or provided directly to the first preference school.

Northern Ireland open-enrolment admissions criteria, as published by the Education Authority for entry in September 2026.

Published by the admission authority. Meeting a criterion never guarantees a place — it sets the order places are offered in. Full detail, other entry points and previous years are on the Admissions tab.