Strangford College
Grant-maintained integrated school in Northern Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strangford College, also known as Strangford Integrated College, is a school in Carrowdore, Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is an integrated co-educational secondary school with a grammar stream with around 870+ students (2025/26). Mrs Clare Foster is the school's current principal.[1]
(Under the sign we are strong)
| Strangford College | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
 | |
Abbey Road | |
| Coordinates | 54.5796°N 5.5531°W |
| Information | |
| Other name | Strangford Integrated College |
| Type | Grant-Maintained Integrated |
| Motto | In hoc signo vinces (Under the sign we are strong) |
| Religious affiliation | Integrated |
| Established | 1997 |
| Status | Open |
| Local authority | Education Authority |
| Principal | Mrs Clare Foster |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 834 (2024/25) |
| Capacity | 760 |
| Houses | Mahee House Ogliby House Sketrick House Taggart House |
| Colours | Sixth Form |
| Website | www |
Context
Integrated Education is a Northern Ireland phenomenon, where traditionally schools were sectarian,[2] either Catholic or Protestant. On parental request, a school could apply to 'transition' to become grant-maintained and offer 30% of the school places to students from the minority community. Lagan College was the first integrated school to open in 1981.[3]
As of 2025, students at Strangford College were 39% Protestant, 19% Roman Catholic and 42% other.
History
Strangford College opened 1 September 1997, with 64 students and 7 staff. It was awarded grant-maintained status in September 1999.[4]
A new build was approved by the Department of Education in April 2016 and a contractor appointed in 2021[5] furthermore construction has been underway and is expected to complete the 1st half in 2026.
In 2021, the college applied to raise its official enrolment number from 670 to 760; the minister at first refused the request,[6] but on appeal, reversed his decision. This allows the college to accept 130 year 8 students a year.[7]
The college applied unsuccessfully in 2019 to use transfer tests to select the 35% of pupils it admits to the grammar stream in Year 8.[8] It reapplied in January 2022.[9]