Education Outcomes Linkage – Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) will release the second phase of the Education Outcomes Linkage (EOL) data in autumn 2024.
The EOL dataset contains longitudinal post-primary schools’ data for pupils aged 14 years and over in Northern Ireland. It links together a number of datasets held by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland:
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the Schools Census (including attendance data)
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the School Leavers Survey
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the Exams Database.
EOL is the first stage of the development of a Longitudinal Education Outcomes database for Northern Ireland. This second phase includes an additional three years of data - 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22. This will allow a range of research areas to be considered including:
Supporting the 14-19 Strategy
The Department of Education and the Department for the Economy work closely together on cross-cutting issues related to the education and training provision for 14- to 19-year-olds. The EOL will offer a baseline to enable the departments to assess the impact of the strategy on young people’s educational outcomes.
Addressing Department of Education policy needs
The Department of Education has previously identified policy needs in relation to the best predictors of educational attainment, the impact of free school meals for those on the threshold of eligibility, and an exploration of special educational needs outcomes.
Research using the EOL on themes such as the impact of special educational needs, factors influencing under achievement in education and educational outcomes for newcomers are specifically relevant to informing policy development.
In addition to these broad research themes, the EOL for 2018/19 is already enabling research across a number of specific areas. So far projects have commenced or are being developed as follows:
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Post-primary school size and educational outcomes in Northern Ireland
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Social inequalities in education in Northern Ireland
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Educational outcomes for newcomer pupils in Northern Ireland.
A significant in-person launch event for the second phase of the EOL is planned for October 2024.
Information on how to access this dataset will be available on the NISRA website.
