Lumen Christi College, Derry


Lumen Christi College is a co-educational Catholic grammar school in Bishop Street, Derry, Northern Ireland. The school was founded in September 1997 and is located at the site of the old St Columb's College. The school is made up of just over 840 students and 50 teachers. The current principal is Siobhán McCauley, and the current vice principals are Dr. Marie Ferris and Mrs Bronach O'Hare. Lumen Christi College launched an official Twitter for the school in December 2016, although it was only active from October 2017. Lumen Christi describes itself academically as a "Science specialist" school.

Academics

The college offers the full Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4. At Key Stage 4 all students usually take a minimum of nine GCSEs while, at Sixth Form, all students take at least three A-Levels. The college is a member of the Foyle Learning Community which links twelve post-primary providers in
the area allowing access for post-16 students to a range of subjects in addition to those taught on site.
In the 2017 Sunday Times Parent Power survey of UK schools, the college was ranked first in Northern Ireland and 22nd in the UK.
81.6% of its students who sat the A-level exams in 2017/18 were awarded three A*-C grades.
In 2016/17, 96% of its entrants achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including the core subjects English and Maths. In 2017/18, 100% of its entrants achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C and the college was ranked joint first in the 2019 Belfast Telegraph league table.

Controversy

In April 2008, both Dr Séamus Hegarty and Caitríona Ruane, the Minister for Education, along with the Irish National Teachers' Organisation trade union, criticised the Board of Governors of Lumen Christi College for announcing their intention to continue academic selection after the abolition of the 11-plus examination.
The school's then-principal, Patrick O'Doherty, responded that the school intended to go ahead with its testing plans, and that the education minister had no legal authority to stop them. Regarding accusations in 2012 of Sinn Féin infiltrating Catholic schools, by placing Sinn Féin activists as school governors, Alliance Party MLA Trevor Lunn said, "In the context of Lumen Christi as a highly successful grammar school which has taken a public stance on the question of academic selection, in defiance of the minister's instruction and indeed the view of the Catholic Church, it is hard to see these appointments as anything other than a means of infiltration of the school's board of governors, with the aim of influencing the stance taken by the present board."