Transfer test dates 2026 for Northern Ireland

If you have a child heading into P7, you have probably already felt that little flutter of right, this is really happening now. The SEAG transfer test can feel like a big unknown at first, but once you can see the whole year laid out in front of you, it gets a lot more manageable. So let us walk through it together, date by date, and take some of the worry out of it.

Just so you know where we stand, Transfera is an independent practice site and we are not part of SEAG. The dates here come from the official SEAG information for the 2026 assessment. They very rarely change, but it is always worth a quick check on seagni.co.uk before you pin anything to the fridge.

Your key dates for 2026

These are the dates for the assessment your child sits in November 2026, if they are starting Year 8 in September 2027.

The contingency date is just a safety net. It only comes into play if the whole assessment has to be postponed across Northern Ireland, say because of really bad weather. In a normal year your child sits the two papers on the 14th and the 21st, and that is that.

Is your child the right age this year?

The November 2026 assessment is for children born between 2 July 2015 and 1 July 2016, who will be moving up to Year 8 in September 2027. If your child is transferring a year early or a year late for any reason, they can usually still sit it, so it is worth asking if that applies to you.

One thing that puts a lot of parents at ease: if your child has a Statement of Special Educational Needs, they do not need to sit the assessment at all, because a separate admissions process looks after them.

Getting registered

You register online through the SEAG website yourself, rather than the primary school doing it for you. You set up a parent account, fill in the application, pick an assessment centre and upload your child identification. It is all fairly straightforward, and you can do it at the kitchen table one evening.

There is a fee to pay when you register, and if your family gets Free School Meals you can apply for a waiver instead, as long as you upload the evidence. Fees can change from year to year, so just check the amount when you go to register.

Two little things that catch people out, so keep them in mind. Late registrations are not usually accepted, which is why that September closing date really matters. And your child is given an assessment centre that might not be the school you are hoping they will get into, so try not to read anything into it. You will be sent the centre and the reporting time before the day itself.

What the papers are actually like

There are two papers, sat a week apart, each done under proper timed conditions. Both cover English and Maths from the same Key Stage 2 work your child already knows, with a mix of multiple choice questions and a few where they write their answer out.

The result comes back as a total standardised age score across both papers. In plain terms, that just means the score takes your child age into account, so a younger child in the year is not at a disadvantage against an older one. Each grammar school then decides how it uses that score in its own admissions, so it really pays to read the criteria for the schools you have your eye on.

If you want the exact nuts and bolts of the papers, SEAG puts out a Specification for the 2026 Entrance Assessment on its site, and that is the definitive source.

When is the right time to start?

Most families find their feet in P6, which gives your child a comfortable year or so to build up before the papers land in P7. Starting early is not about piling on pressure. It is the opposite really. It lets you spread everything out so the work stays calm and steady, instead of turning into a scramble in October.

Little and often works far better than long, tiring sessions that leave everyone frazzled. A nice rhythm to aim for is one full timed paper a week as November gets closer, with a few shorter goes in between on whatever your child finds fiddly, whether that is comprehension, spelling, or a particular corner of maths.

When you are ready to start practising, you can find timed mocks and topic practice on our transfer test practice pages, or jump straight into some free practice questions.

SEAG or AQE, which one do you need?

Here is one that trips a lot of families up. Northern Ireland actually has two transfer tests, SEAG and AQE, and different grammar schools use different ones. Some accept both, some only take one. Before you settle into a routine, have a quick look at which test the schools on your list use, so all that lovely practice is pointed in the right direction.

Ready to give it a go?

The thing that builds confidence more than anything is sitting real questions in the real format, so the day itself feels familiar rather than scary. You can start for free with our SEAG style Maths and English questions and full mock papers, all marked instantly, so you can see straight away where your child is flying and where a little more practice would help.

Questions parents often ask