Editing Northern Ireland (section)

===Education===
{{Main|Education in Northern Ireland}}
[[File:Lanyon Building, Queen's University, Belfast.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|[[Queen's University Belfast|Queen's University]], [[Belfast]]]]
[[File:Library Building at Magee.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ulster University]], [[Derry]]]]

Unlike most areas of the United Kingdom, in the last year of primary school, many children sit entrance examinations for [[Grammar schools in the United Kingdom|grammar schools]]. [[Integrated Education|Integrated schools]], which attempt to ensure a balance in enrolment between pupils of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and other faiths (or none), are becoming increasingly popular, although Northern Ireland still has a primarily ''de facto'' religiously segregated education system. In the primary school sector, 40 schools (8.9% of the total number) are integrated schools and 32 (7.2% of the total number) are [[Gaelscoileanna]] (Irish language-medium schools).

As with the island of Ireland as a whole, Northern Ireland has one of the youngest populations in Europe and, among the four UK nations, it has the highest proportion of children aged under 16 years (21% in mid-2019).<ref>{{cite web |title=Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2019 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2019estimates#ageing |website=ons.gov.uk |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=3 April 2022}}</ref>

In the most recent full academic year (2021–2022), the region's school education system comprised 1,124 schools (of all types) and around 346,000 pupils, including:
* 796 primary schools with 172,000 pupils;
* 192 post-primary schools with 152,000 pupils;
* 126 non-grammar post-primary schools with 86,000 pupils;
* 66 grammar schools with 65,000 pupils;
* 94 nursery schools with 5,800 pupils;
* 39 special schools with 6,600 pupils (specifically for children with special educational needs); and
* 14 independent schools with 700 children.<ref name="enrolment2122">{{cite web |title=Annual enrolments at schools and in funded pre-school education in Northern Ireland 2021–22 |url=https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/education/Revised%2011th%20March%202022%20-%20Annual%20enrolments%20at%20schools%20and%20in%20funded%20pre-school%20education%20in%20Northern%20Ireland%2C%202021-22.pdf |website=education-ni.gov.uk |publisher=Department of Education |access-date=3 April 2022}}</ref>

Enrolments in further and higher education were as follows (in 2019–2020) before disruption to enrolments and classes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic:
* six regional further education colleges with 132,000 students;
* two universities – [[Queen's University Belfast]] and [[Ulster University]] – with 53,000 students;
* two teacher training colleges – [[Stranmillis University College]] and [[St Mary's University College, Belfast]] – with 2,200 students;
* the [[College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise]] with 1,700 students on three campuses; and
* the [[Open University]] with 4,200 students.<ref>{{cite web |title=Further Education Sector Activity in Northern Ireland: 2016/17 to 2020/21 |url=https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/economy/FE-Sector-Activity-Statistical-Bulletin-16-17-to-2021_0.pdf |website=economy-ni.gov.uk |publisher=Department for the Economy |access-date=3 April 2022 |ref=feenrols1920}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions: Northern Ireland Analysis 2019/20 |url=https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/economy/HEI-enrolments-bulletin-2019-20.pdf |website=economy-ni.gov.uk |publisher=Department for the Economy |access-date=3 April 2022 |ref=heenrols1920}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Why CAFRE? |url=https://www.cafre.ac.uk/about-us/why-cafre/ |publisher=CAFRE |access-date=3 April 2022}}</ref>

Statistics on education in Northern Ireland are published by the [[Department of Education (Northern Ireland)|Department of Education]] and the [[Department for the Economy]].

The main universities in Northern Ireland are [[Queen's University Belfast]] and [[Ulster University]], and the distance learning [[Open University]] which has a regional office in Belfast.