The Court of Appeal has ruled that Stormont’s Education Minister acted within the law when he refused applications by two north Down schools to become integrated.

In January 2025, Paul Givan turned down bids from Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary School. Both schools had sought to provide integrated education, and a clear majority of parents supported the change in a 2023 ballot.

However, Mr Givan determined there was insufficient evidence that enough Catholic pupils would attend the schools to achieve the ‘reasonable numbers’ of both Protestant and Catholic children required by law. Catholic enrolment at both schools had been around three percent in recent years.

The decisions were challenged in the courts on behalf of pupils. Lawyers argued that the Minister had breached Article 64 of the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, which imposes a duty to encourage and facilitate integrated education.

The High Court rejected the challenge in October last year, and the Court of Appeal has now upheld that decision. The appeal court said the central issue was the relationship between Article 64 and Article 92(6) of the same legislation, which states that the department shall not approve a transformation unless the school is likely to provide integrated education with reasonable numbers of both Protestant and Roman Catholic pupils.

The court concluded that if the Minister lawfully found Article 92(6) was not satisfied, he was obliged to refuse approval. It stated that without a reasonable number of Catholic and Protestant pupils attending, a school does not meet the legal definition of integrated.

Mr Givan said the judgement reaffirmed the legal duties placed on his department and confirmed the integrity of his decision-making process. He emphasised that the requirement to demonstrate a school will likely achieve reasonable numbers of both traditions is a central and binding element of the legislation, supported by clear evidence.