Northern Ireland Education

Created in 1921, the Northern Ireland is a vital part of the United Kingdom. Containing a population of about 2 million [about 3% of UK's total population of around 65 million], Northern Ireland [NI] has the smallest of the four provincial economies of UK, which is mainly based on the manufacturing of shipbuilding and textiles, high tech information technology industry, tourism, and services.

Rich in great and enthralling natural beauty and splendors, northern Ireland is duly adorned further with opulent cultural heritage and contemporary modernity. Its climate too is temperate and soothing, to suit international students also. Conforming to and carrying out the long and reputed tradition of Ireland to provide superlative education to the western world since the middle ages, Northern Ireland does offer internationally admired higher education to foreign students coming from over 80 countries worldwide, every year. Ours this short but rich web-article offers exclusive information about the northern ireland education system, both at the school and university levels. The system of northern ireland education does differs from that in other countries of UK, but is quite similar to that in Wales. For school education in northern ireland, responsible mainly is the Department of Education of the Northern Ireland Executive, while for the further and higher education in the country, the Department for Employment and Learning [DEL] is accountable.

Northern Ireland Education Study System

The system of education in Northern Ireland also, covers five broad phases or levels, which are the following:

Early Childhood and Nursery Education: For children between the age of 3 to 4 years.
Primary Education: For children aged 4 years to 11 years.
Secondary Education: For students between the age of 11 years to 16 years [till GCSE Examinations]
Further Education: For students whose age varies from 16 years to 18 years
Higher Education: For acquiring Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral Degrees in any desired professional discipline.

The age of compulsory school education in NI ranges from 4 to 16 years, and goes through the phases of school and home education northern ireland, in Irish and English languages. The age of child on July 01, determines entry into the relevant stages of school education [which is September 01 in England and Wales]. The majority of school children in NI find their school education in Catholic-managed schools; the number of such schools at present is about 550. The further education is provided mainly by the subordinate institutes and colleges in northern ireland, through their diverse academic, vocational, and technical courses and training.

As far as the higher education northern ireland is concerned, the following information and facts are pivotal: The two-semester academic year runs from September to June; almost all significant and globally popular professional disciplines are covered by the undergraduate and postgraduate courses and degrees; at master's level, two main types of degrees are provided, namely, the Taught Master's [usually one year] and the Research Master's [generally two years]; and the PhD courses in NI generally take three to four years.

For internationally commended higher education in Northern Ireland, the following three universities are amply popular. These three universities collectively serve about 50,000 students every year; and the first two universities have credit for drawing about 17,000 international students every year from around 80 counties:

Queen's University Belfast
University of Ulster [with Four Campuses]
Open University