An economist known for exposing the deep inequalities in Northern Ireland's school system has died. Prof Vani Borooah of Ulster University spent years documenting how selection at age 11 entrenches social disadvantage.

His research, including a recent paper co-authored with Colin Knox, found that 45 per cent of pupils enter grammar schools each year after a test at age 11. In these schools, more than 95 per cent go on to achieve good exam results.

The remaining 55 per cent are allocated to non-selective secondary schools. There, fewer than two-thirds obtain good qualifications, and pupils are far less likely to progress to university or complete their education.

Borooah and Knox showed that grammar schools, whether Catholic or Protestant, largely exclude children from poorer backgrounds and those with special educational needs.

Within the secondary sector, the research revealed a religious disparity: Catholic secondary schools had better outcomes than their Protestant counterparts, with significantly lower dropout rates.

The economist also studied long-term economic consequences. By the 1990s, wage gaps between Catholics and Protestants were no longer driven by religious discrimination but by differences in educational attainment, his work found.

His findings prompted debate about an education system that, in effect, provides a state-funded private education for a minority while limiting opportunities for the majority.