Three school merger confirmed for north coast

The Department of Education’s top official, Permanent Secretary Mark Browne, has approved plans for the merger of three post-primary schools.

Coleraine College, Dunluce School and North Coast Integrated will merge on the site outside Coleraine.

The new 1,200 pupil school will be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.

A majority of respondents to a previous Education Authority (EA) consultation were opposed to it but the amalgamation was backed by the schools’ boards of governors, Ulster University, the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) and the Controlled Schools’ Support Council (CSSC).

The Education Authority welcomed the decision to approve the merger.

“This innovative project of creating a new co-educational, 11-18, non-selective controlled integrated post-primary school with direct links to Ulster University is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland,” it said.

“The new school will create a learner-focused environment which is sustainable and will provide many new opportunities for children and young people, families and the wider community.

“It will also provide increased specialist provision in mainstream for children and young people with special educational needs within the area.

“Coleraine College, Dunluce School and North Coast Integrated College, the Education Authority, Ulster University, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education and Controlled Schools’ Support Council will continue to work closely as we move towards implementing this development proposal.”

Coleraine College had 391 pupils in 2022, Dunluce High in Bushmills had 203 pupils and North Coast Integrated had 431 pupils.

A site in the grounds of Ulster University’s Coleraine campus has been earmarked for the new build.

The plan for the school, published by the EA, said that “the strategic vision is for a new-build school on the Coleraine Campus of Ulster University, as a partner within the new school”.

Partnership with the university would provide educational benefits for pupils and increased opportunities for training for staff, the EA also said.

It is not yet clear if that will go ahead, when the new school will open or where it will be based.

It remains likely that the merged school will initially operate on separate sites, which had been a major concern of those opposed to the merger proposal.

Other concerns included that children from Bushmills would face a long journey to get to the new school.