The authors of this paper would like to thank colleagues in the Northern Ireland Department of Education for their contributions and discussions relating to this paper. In particular, the team would like to thank the Minister of Education, Paul Givan, for meeting with the authors, and Karen McCullough (Director of Qualifications, 14-19 Strategy and Youthwork Policy), Joan Cassells (Deputy Director of Qualifications), Jonathan Cockerill (Acting Head of Qualifications Reform Team) and Sharon King (Head of CCEA Regulation until January 2026) for their contributions. The team would also like to thank colleagues from the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) and the Education and Training Inspectorate who provided feedback on earlier drafts of this paper and met with the OECD team. The team would particularly like to thank the students, teachers and school leaders from the various schools in the South Belfast Area Learning Community and the Magherafelt Area Learning Community who participated in focus group discussions and activities.
This paper is an output of the Transitions in Upper Secondary Education project, a project of the OECD’s Education Policy Committee’s Programme of Work and Budget for 2025-2026, and was drafted by Rebecca Frankum and Hannah Kitchen. We would like to thank our colleague Shivi Chandra for her contributions, and Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills and Paulo Santiago, Head of the Policy Advice and Implementation Division, for their guidance and support. Thank you to Bethan Renwick, Daiana Torres Lima and Jennifer Cannon for providing administrative support.