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C−

Blackwater Integrated College

Post-primaryAges 11–16Grant-maintained integratedLearning support centreNon-grammar

12 Old Belfast Road, Downpatrick, BT30 6SG · Newry, Mourne And Down

Downpatrick’s School Grade B against Northern Ireland’s towns

Directions
Its letter
18%
of Northern Ireland’s 120 non-grammar schools have lower GCSE results
How full
187 of 400 places
213 places free for 2025/26
Free school meals
36%
of pupils · outlined square = Northern Ireland’s post-primary schools (23%)
Special needs
46%
on the SEN register, 99 with a statement (Northern Ireland: 17%)
The gist

What stands out about Blackwater Integrated College

  • Its own letter, C−: 47% of Year 12 got 5+ GCSEs A*–C with English and maths, against 60% at the average non-grammar school
  • Integrated: 30% Protestant, 39% Catholic and 31% other or none
  • 213 of 400 places free this year

Results

DE · exams 2024/25 · 43 Year 12 pupils

Each bar is a group of schools. The schools Blackwater Integrated beats are shaded green.

5+ GCSEs A*–C with English and maths 47%

Against Northern Ireland’s 120 non-grammar schools: higher than 18%. Against all 186: higher than 12%.

0%20%40%60%80%100%NI non-grammar avg 59.8%Blackwater Integrated 47%

Department of Education, examination performance at post-primary schools 2024/25. Also: 77% got 5+ GCSEs A*–C in any subjects.

Pupils

DE school census · October 2025 · 286 pupils

Each year group

Years 8 to 12 to GCSE, then the sixth form (dark bars).

56
64
69
55
42
Y8Y9Y10Y11Y12

Who goes here

Pupils by religion, against Downpatrick’s other post-primary schools.

ProtestantCatholicOther Christian, other religion, none or not statedNot published (fewer than 5 pupils)
Blackwater Integratedmixed
Down High Schoolmixed
Lecale Trinity Grammarone community
Northern Ireland’s post-primary schoolsmixed

132 pupils are on the special needs register: 33 supported by the school at stages 1 and 2, and 99 with a statement. The school has a learning support centre, a specialist class of 53 pupils. 11% are newcomer pupils, who don’t yet have the language of the curriculum.

Department of Education, school enrolment, school level data 2025/26: year groups, religion, SEN, newcomers.

Pupils over time

Pupil numbers over time

Published school census enrolments, by academic year.

0801602403202016/172019/202022/232025/26Pupils

Department of Education school censuses, 2016/17–2025/26. This school’s reference number throughout; primary totals include attached nursery classes. Later workbooks separate specialist provision in mainstream; combined totals are used where published. Missing counts stay missing.

Side by side

Downpatrick’s 3 post-primary schools

Against the town’s other post-primary schools. Grammar schools’ results are higher because they select at 11; each letter compares a school with its own kind.

5+ GCSEs A*–C with English and maths

Down High School100% A
Lecale Trinity Grammar74% D
Blackwater Integrated47% C−

3+ A-levels A*–C

Down High School90%
Lecale Trinity Grammar67%
Blackwater Integrated—
Its letter

How the letter is worked out

Northern Ireland selects at 11. Grammar schools average 94% of pupils with five good GCSEs including English and maths, non-grammar schools 60%. Ranked against all 186 schools together, a non-grammar school would be held to grammar-school intakes, and a grammar school would look outstanding for its intake alone. So Blackwater Integrated’s C− is its place among Northern Ireland’s 120 non-grammar schools: better than 18% of them. Among all schools it is better than 12%.

The bands are the site’s own: A+ is the top 5%, A the next 10%, and so on down to D− for the bottom 5%. It rests on one year’s results; Northern Ireland publishes no progress measure.

Nearby

Schools near Blackwater Integrated College

Every mainstream school within 3 km. Post-primary schools are squares, with their letter; integrated schools are teal.

1 km2 km3 kmNADC−Blackwater Integrated

The five nearest

Nearby schools

Schools of the same phase near Blackwater Integrated College

Nearest first, within the same nation, as the crow flies. Up to 8 km, or 25 km where there are fewer than three nearby. Catchments and admissions rules decide which school a child gets.

Down High School
Post-primary · Ages 11–18 · Controlled grammar
A
961 pupils100% GCSEs0 places free0 km away
Lecale Trinity Grammar School
Post-primary · Ages 11–18 · Voluntary grammar
D
Learning support centre
1,484 pupils74% GCSEs257 places free1.3 km away
St Colmcille's High School
Post-primary · Ages 11–16 · Catholic maintained
C
Learning support centre
348 pupils53% GCSEs163 places free7 km away

Blackwater Integrated College: common questions

Is Blackwater Integrated College a good school?

By its published GCSE results it earns a C− among Northern Ireland’s non-grammar schools: 47% of its Year 12 pupils got 5 or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and maths in 2024/25, against 60% at the average non-grammar school.

How many pupils go to Blackwater Integrated College?

286 in October 2025.

Are there places at Blackwater Integrated College?

For 2025/26 the Department of Education counts 213 places free of its approved enrolment of 400. Apply through the Education Authority, in Primary 7.

Not on this page yet: the Education and Training Inspectorate’s latest report and the school’s budget per pupil.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.