Strangford College | |
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Address | |
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Abbey Road | |
Coordinates | 54°34′47″N5°33′11″W / 54.5796°N 5.5531°W |
Information | |
Other name | Strangford Integrated College |
Type | Grant-Maintained Integrated |
Motto | In hoc signo vinces (Under the sign we are strong) |
Religious affiliation(s) | Integrated |
Established | 1997 |
Status | Open |
Local authority | Education Authority |
Principal | Mrs Clare Foster |
Gender | Co-educational |
Age | 11to 18 |
Enrolment | 834 (2024/25) |
Capacity | 760 |
Houses | Mahee House Ogliby House Sketrick House Taggart House |
Colour(s) | Sixth Form |
Website | www |
Strangford College, also known as Strangford Integrated College, is a school in Carrowdore, Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is an integrated co-educational secondary school with a grammar stream with 834 students (2024/25). Mrs Clare Foster is the school's current principal. [1]
Integrated Education is a Northern Ireland phenomenon, where traditionally schools were sectarian, [2] either Catholic or Protestant. On parental request, a school could apply to 'transition' to become grant-maintained and offer 30% of the school places to students from the minority community. Lagan College was the first integrated school to open in 1981. [3]
As of 2025, students at Strangford College were 39% Protestant, 19% Roman Catholic and 42% other.
Strangford College opened 1 September 1997, with 64 students and 7 staff. It was awarded grant-maintained status in September 1999. [4]
A new build was approved by the Department of Education in April 2016 and a contractor appointed in 2021. [5]
In 2021, the college applied to raise its official enrolment number from 670 to 760; the minister at first refused the request, [6] but on appeal, reversed his decision. This allows the college to accept 130 year 8 students a year. [7]
The college applied unsuccessfully in 2019 to use transfer tests to select the 35% of pupils it admits to the grammar stream in Year 8. [8] It reapplied in January 2022. [9]