Integrated education in Northern Ireland: participation, profile and performance

Between 1999 and 2001 the Nuffield Foundation supported a research project into aspects of integrated education in Northern Ireland. The project was coordinated by Alan Smith, University of Ulster, and Tony Gallagher, Queen’s University Belfast. The final report was presented to the Nuffield Foundation in 2002 and a seminar was held in London later the same year to discuss its implications, particularly in the light of discussions on faith schools in England. Given the range of information gathered during the project, Nuffield agreed to support a series of further seminars to consider the current and future state of integrated education in Northern Ireland. There are three reports in the series: Integrated Education in Northern Ireland:1. Participation, Profile and Performance;2. Integration in Practice; and3. The Challenge of Transformation.This report is the second in the series and focuses on the nature of integration in practice. The report is based on data gathered through a survey of integrated schools, qualitative case studies and a study of past pupils from two integrated post-primary schools.