Is the AQE test still running?

No. The final AQE tests were sat in November 2022. From November 2023 a single assessment run by SEAG replaced both AQE and GL, and it is the only transfer test children sit now.

Do grammar schools still accept AQE results?

Current admissions use the SEAG assessment. Every participating grammar school in Northern Ireland accepts the same SEAG result, so one test covers them all.

Is the SEAG test harder than AQE was?

It is a different format rather than a harder one. SEAG draws on the same Key Stage 2 English and Maths that the older tests did, across two papers with a mixture of multiple choice and written answers.

Can I compare my older child’s AQE score with a SEAG score?

Not directly. The old tests reported scores on different scales, so a SEAG standardised age score does not line up with an old AQE number. Check each school’s current admissions criteria instead.

SEAG vs AQE: what actually changed?

If you have been googling AQE because that is what your friends sat with their older children, or what you remember from the school gate a few years back, you are in good company. Half of Northern Ireland still calls it the AQE. But the honest answer is that AQE is gone, and something simpler has taken its place. Here is the whole story in plain language.

The short version

Northern Ireland used to have two separate transfer tests, AQE and GL. Since November 2023 there has been just one, run by SEAG, the Schools Entrance Assessment Group. Every participating grammar school now accepts the same SEAG result, so your child sits one assessment and that is that.

What AQE and GL were

For years, grammar school entry ran on two parallel systems. Some schools used the AQE test and others used the GL test, and families whose school list straddled both often put their child through both sets of papers. That could mean a P7 pupil sitting as many as five test papers across several Saturdays in the autumn, which was a lot for a ten year old and a lot for the parents pacing the corridor outside.

It also made the school run conversations confusing. Which test does that school take? Do we register twice? Do we pay twice? If you remember that era, you remember the spreadsheet feeling.

What happens now

The grammar schools got together and formed SEAG to run one common assessment for everyone, and the first SEAG papers were sat in November 2023. Your child now sits two papers, a week apart, covering English and Maths from the Key Stage 2 work they already do at school, with a mixture of multiple choice questions and some written answers.

One registration, one fee, one set of papers, and a result that every participating grammar school accepts. The result comes back in January as a total standardised age score, which takes your child’s age into account, and each school then applies its own admissions criteria to it.

Why this is good news for you

Less admin, less cost, and far less pressure on your child. There is no agonising over which test to enter, no doubling up of papers, and no risk of picking the wrong one for the schools you have your eye on. All the energy that used to go into navigating two systems can go into calm, steady practice instead.

One thing to watch, though. If an older sibling sat AQE, their score will not map onto the new system, because the old tests reported numbers on different scales. So when a neighbour says their eldest got such and such in the AQE, treat it as a lovely memory rather than a benchmark. The only numbers that matter now are in each school’s current admissions criteria.

Does old AQE or GL practice material still help?

Up to a point. The underlying English and Maths has not changed, so old papers are not useless. But the question styles and paper structure are different now, and children do best when their practice looks and feels like the real thing. Practising in the current SEAG style, under gentle timed conditions, is what makes the actual test day feel familiar.

Key dates if your child is next

For the November 2026 assessment, registration opens on Monday 18 May 2026 and closes on Friday 18 September 2026. Paper 1 is on Saturday 14 November and Paper 2 is on Saturday 21 November. The full timeline, including results and what happens after, is in our guide to the transfer test dates for 2026, and the answers to the questions parents ask most are in our transfer test FAQs.

Ready to practise the new way?

Transfera is an independent practice platform, not part of SEAG, and our original questions are written in the current SEAG style so the real papers feel familiar on the day. You can start for free with timed mocks and free practice questions, all marked instantly.

Create a free account