Down High School
28 Strangford Road, Downpatrick, BT30 6SL · Newry, Mourne and Down
Downpatrick’s School Grade B against Northern Ireland’s towns
What stands out about Down High School
- Its own letter, A: 100% of Year 12 got 5+ GCSEs A*–C with English and maths, against 94% at the average grammar school
- A mix: 49% Protestant, 26% Catholic, 25% other or none
- A sixth form of 280: 90% of its A-level pupils got 3+ A*–C
- 0 of 934 places free this year
Results
DE · exams 2024/25 · 127 Year 12 pupilsEach bar is a group of schools. The schools Down High School beats are shaded green.
5+ GCSEs A*–C with English and maths 100%
Against Northern Ireland’s 66 grammar schools: higher than 89%. Against all 186: higher than 96%.
3+ A-levels A*–C 90%
128 final-year A-level pupils · higher than 94% of Northern Ireland’s 155 schools with A-level pupils
Department of Education, examination performance at post-primary schools 2024/25. Also: 100% got 5+ GCSEs A*–C in any subjects.
Pupils
DE school census · October 2025 · 961 pupilsEach year group
Years 8 to 12 to GCSE, then the sixth form (dark bars).
Who goes here
Pupils by religion, against Downpatrick’s other post-primary schools.
142 pupils are in Year 13 for 137 in Year 12, about 104 for every 100. 72 pupils are on the special needs register: 51 supported by the school at stages 1 and 2, and 21 with a statement.
Department of Education, school enrolment, school level data 2025/26: year groups, religion, SEN, newcomers.
Pupil numbers over time
Published school census enrolments, by academic year.
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 schoolsAgainst 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
3+ A-levels A*–C
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 Down High School’s A is its place among Northern Ireland’s 66 grammar schools: better than 89% of them. Among all schools it is better than 96%.
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.
Schools near Down High School
Every mainstream school within 3 km. Post-primary schools are squares, with their letter; integrated schools are teal.
The five nearest
- Blackwater Integrated · Grant-maintained integrated · 0 km
- St Brigid's PS · Catholic maintained · 0.8 km
- Downpatrick PS · Controlled · 1 km
- Lecale Trinity Grammar · Voluntary grammar · 1.3 km
- Our Lady & St Patrick PS · Catholic maintained · 1.5 km
Schools of the same phase near Down High School
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: common questions
Is Down High School a good school?
By its published GCSE results it earns an A among Northern Ireland’s grammar schools: 100% of its Year 12 pupils got 5 or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and maths in 2024/25, against 94% at the average grammar school.
How many pupils go to Down High School?
961 in October 2025.
Are there places at Down High School?
For 2025/26 the Department of Education counts 0 places free of its approved enrolment of 934. Apply through the Education Authority, in Primary 7.
Does Down High School use the transfer test?
Most of its pupils are admitted on the transfer test, which children can choose to sit in Primary 7. Its admissions criteria set out how places are given.
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.