St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook is a heavily over-subscribed school.  

Legally, the Board of the Governors of the school is only permitted to admit new pupils to Year 8 (through the normal Open Enrolment admissions process) and to Year 13 (subject to approval from the Department of Education).

The Board of Governors is under instruction from the Department of Education not to admit pupils to any other year group, as this would cause the school to be in breach of its approved enrolment number.

While parents/guardians may wish to submit an application (via the AP1 Transfer Form) for transfer from another post-primary school to St Paul’s, it is highly unlikely that this application will be approved.

If for exceptional reasons parents/guardians feel that their child must attend only St Paul’s High School, they may make application to the Exceptional Circumstances Body.  Further information about this process can be obtained from the Secretary of the Exceptional Circumstances Body, Rathgael House, Balloo Road, Rathgael, Bangor, BT19 7PR, or online.