School open events 2025 Northern Ireland…If you are reading this blog post chances are school open events 2025 Northern Ireland are what you started off your new year thinking about! The start of the new year brings lots of things. New year’s resolutions, new health and fitness regimes, walking in the evenings and it also means it’s time for the POST-PRIMARY SCHOOL OPEN EVENTS! How can it be time for this already? Your little one is still your little one but now you are going to check out ‘big schools’ for them! If this is your first time navigating the crazy schedule of the school open days NI don’t worry, I’m here to help you out. And if you’ve been through all of this before, don’t worry, there may still be some tips and tricks on how to tackle school open days 2025 NI.
Applying for your child’s post-primary place can be emotional and confusing. There are so many documents and bits and pieces that each school needs. To help make this process easier for you, I have created a Post-Primary School Admissions Checklist which you can grab here for free! Use this checklist to make your child’s organised, seamless and stress free! Jot down the school’s name, admissions criteria, documents needed and give it your child’s rating from 1 to 10! Don’t forget to download it here and kickstart the next chapter of your child’s education!
Post-Primary School Open Events
Let’s jump in and chat about all things school open days NI. Take some notes or print this blog post. Do anything that helps you navigate this process smoother and makes it stress free and calm for you.
What are school open events?
School open events are run by the post-primary schools in Northern Ireland to show off how amazing their school is! It’s like going to view a house before you put in an offer. You get to see and hear all about the wonderful things on offer! When your child reaches Primary 7, it’ll soon be time for them to move onto the next chapter of their educational journey. The purpose of school open events is to show them what schools are out there that they can move on to next year.
Who are school open events for?
School open events are for students in Primary 7 who are getting ready to leave the comforts of primary school and move on to the next part of their schooling. If your child is in Primary 7, you 100% need to go and see some schools in your area. Over the last couple of years, Primary 6 students have been attending open events.
When I ask some of the parents that I tutor for why they do this, they say it’s to give their child some motivation and a boost to start off their transfer test preparation. Some have even said their child did not want to do the test until they went and saw some of the grammar schools! If your child is in Primary 6 now and you want to go and take a look at some of the schools then you should definitely do that. However, if you think it might be too soon and too much for your Primary 6 to handle, then just wait until next year.
When do the school open events begin?
School open nights NI are probably already in full swing or are just about to get started! By the time you read this blog post, your calendar might already be full with school open days NI or nights. This will probably be most of your social life for January! Especially if your child wants to see ALL of the schools! School open events usually start in January, even before the transfer test results are released. It might feel a bit weird going to visit schools before your child has even got their transfer test result but that’s the way it has run for many years. You can find all of the school open nights 2025 Northern Ireland timetable on The Transfer Tutor website.
What happens at the events?
My best memories of school open events are getting lots of free stuff and making a keyring in the Technology and Design department which was super cool! If you asked my mum what she remembers, she’d probably say the free tea, coffee and shortbread! (Which probably is still one of the best things about open events!) Usually a school open event will start off with a talk from the school principal. They’ll talk about the school, the admissions process and any other information you need to know at this stage. Sometimes students from the school will also give a short talk. After this you and your child will be assigned a tour guide. This will probably be a small group because open events are usually packed with people.
Now it’s time for the school to show you all the amazing things their school has to offer. You will be taken around the different departments such as home economics, the ICT department, science rooms and the sports facilities. Each room will be set up to show off that particular curricular area. You may find some baking happening in the home economics room, making slime in the science department or coding in the ICT suites. Your child will have a chance to explore the different areas and resources to get a taste of what these new subjects will be like.
Which schools should you visit?
If your child has sat the transfer test or is planning on sitting the tests, then you can go and see both grammar schools and secondary schools. Go and visit a wide range of schools because you don’t know what the applications will be like for the particular year that your child is applying. Ask your child what schools they would like to check out and also add in a few schools which you think might be good for them. Even if your child is sitting the transfer test, unfortunately it does not guarantee them a place in a grammar school. So make sure you go and see some secondary schools as well just in case.
If your child did not sit the transfer test, then they will not be eligible to go to a grammar school. The transfer test is the method used to allocate places in Northern Ireland’s grammar schools. If your child is in Primary 7 and did not sit the transfer test, you still need to go to open events but for secondary schools. There are lots of them around so you and your child still need to make a decision and complete the post-primary applications process.
What should you do after each school open event?
It will get to the stage when all of the open events will probably start to blend into one. You won’t remember if you made that shiny new keyring in School A or School Z! My top tip for you and your child after going to an open event, is to have a mini debrief. Grab a coffee for you and a hot chocolate for your child and talk. Talk about what they liked about the school, how they felt walking around the different classrooms and departments and talk about transport. How would they get to school? Is it walkable, public transport or will they get a lift? Once you have had a talk about it, jot down some of those points and ask your child to rate the school out of 10. Remember you can use your checklist to do this part!
What should you consider when visiting schools?
It can be very easy to become super excited and fall in love with a school. Of course you want your child to be happy at school and enjoy their time there. That is extremely important to consider. However, I do have to give you some pointers on what to consider when attending the post-primary school open events.
Think about travel times
Travel times are a big one! It’s all well and good travelling an hour or more to get to your child’s favourite post-primary school in the lovely bright Spring weather. But you need to consider those cold, dark days. When it gets dark at 4pm and your child has to get two buses and a train to get home! Ok that might be a bit of an exaggeration but you get what I mean! There’s no point going to school open days Belfast if you live in Enniskillen! Travel times is one of the top things on my list to consider when going to school open events.
What subjects and afterschool clubs are on offer?
Tip number 2 is subject options. If your child has a particular hobby or passion, it could be beneficial to go to a school open event that offers subjects or afterschool clubs in that field. For example, if your child loves swimming or horse riding and that is their passion, try and look for schools in the surrounding area that offer those activities as a bonus. Something like this can make a big impact on your child’s happiness and willingness to go to school. If you can’t find a school that offers your child’s favourite hobby, then see what other great things the schools have to offer. There could be an afterschool club that could turn into your child’s new favourite thing!
Find out last years admissions criteria
Number 3 on my list of things to consider when visiting the post-primary open events, is to be aware of the applications and criteria that the school accepted the previous year. You don’t want to demotivate your child and make them think they don’t stand a chance. But you also don’t want to get their hopes up too much and then they are devastated if they don’t get a place. The reality is the more popular a school is, the stricter they will be with their admissions criteria. The best way to prepare for this is to drop it into a conversation with your child. You aren’t crushing their dreams and telling them there’s no way they will get in. But you are just saying, it’s a very popular school and lots of students will apply, so let’s check out a few other schools too!
More information on school open events 2025 Northern Ireland
5 Fantastic Tips for Navigating Post Primary Admissions Northern Ireland
Applying for a Post Primary Year 8 Place
I’d just like to finish off this blog post by wishing your child luck on this next stage of their educational journey. Have fun at the school open events and enjoy the process. If your child is disheartened or upset by their transfer test result, be there to support them and lift their spirits again. Visit a wide variety of schools and keep your child’s options open. Your child might visit a school that wasn’t even on their radar and absolutely fall in love with it! So keep attending those open events! Good luck with the rest of the school open events 2025 Northern Ireland and enjoy all the free shortbread!
