Debate contribution: Cross-border Education

Debate contribution by Mr David Honeyford on 2 March 2026.

MLA

Mr David Honeyford

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

2 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Cross-border Education

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5433384

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I, too, will talk about opportunity. In Northern Ireland, we have the habit of creating systems that are so narrow in choice that they exclude people and create barriers for them rather than delivering better for them. We have an education system with cliff edges built throughout it and self-inflicted barriers that prevent people from moving on to the next stage. We have to work to remove those barriers and create better and more opportunities for everyone who lives here. If we want a more confident shared future, we must make it easier for our young people to access opportunity, wherever that is. I think of my two kids: Tim went to Loughborough in England, and Emma is studying at Trinity in Dublin. We should look to deliver whatever is best for young people, wherever that is. In a place that has known division, widening opportunity is one of the most powerful things that we can deliver so that young people have the choice to stay at home. That should be expanded and grown. They have the choice to go to England, Scotland and Wales, and Alliance wants to see those opportunities open up across this island as well, because that makes absolute sense. It is disappointing to hear some of the comments today urging Members to vote against those opportunities. The collapse in mobility is stark. I have said this before in here: at Trinity, in 1998, 10% of the students were from Northern Ireland, but, today, fewer than 1% are from Northern Ireland. That is because of the barrier. It is not about a shift in what people want but about a structural barrier that exists. We should ask why so few of our young people have the opportunity to have Trinity, University College Dublin (UCD), Cork or Galway as an option. Just as England, Scotland and Wales are open to them, our young people should feel that the entire island is open to them, without barriers and without being complicated, and not closed. Our experience was that Emma decided to go to Trinity a long time ago. That was where she wanted to go. As Members have said, however, you do not get a formal offer, as you do through UCAS. After Emma applied through UCAS and narrowed down her options, her choice was University College London (UCL). On the day that she got her A-level results, which are, in effect, your ticket to university — in her case, UCL — she had to make the decision to defer that place for a year, wait two weeks and hope that she would have a place at Trinity — and it is hope, because you do not know that you will get in, even though you are doing four A levels. That is complete and utter nonsense. It is unnecessary, creates uncertainty and diminishes our young people's ambition. Creating a barrier such as that and putting young people under pressure to take a year out to allow them to move forward is wrong. We should not build systems that make our young people have to hesitate. Rather, we should make it as easy and seamless as possible for them to fulfil their ambition. The simplest way to share this place, which has been shaped by division, and to build a shared future is to widen opportunity. Alignment of timelines is only part of the issue.

The other real issue is that students with four A levels, even with an AS level, do not get an offer. Michelle and others referred to that as well. The CAO system, which requires 600 points to get into a course, should, without question, equate to three A levels at the highest grade. Our kids should not be asked to do anything more than a child or young person living in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Wexford or wherever. Requiring a fourth A level or an additional AS level is not right. I know that the Minister has raised that as an issue before, but work on removing that barrier needs to continue.

Michelle talked about schools' lack of understanding of the CAO system. That was another issue that we had. Emma went to one of the large schools in Belfast. It was a case of "You're on her own". I attended a parents' evening and was told, "It is there. Go and figure it out". That is not acceptable for young people. We need to give them better opportunities. We need to build a shared future and to increase their ambition, rather than limit it. We support the motion.

765 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:00 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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