Education

Economy

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Education

CLAIM: There are 40,000 third-level students in northwest Ireland, with 7,000 graduates annually ready for employment.

Rating

INACCURATE

Available data shows 9,370 third-level students in northwest Ireland, with approximately 3,300 graduates a year in the region. The Ireland Northwest Trade & Investment mission

Education

CLAIM: Derry/Londonderry is the only city of its prominence in the UK that does not have its own higher education institution, according to Lord Adonis.

Rating

INACCURATE

There are several other urban areas in the UK that do not have a higher education institution headquartered in their locale (for example Darlington, Southport,

Education

CLAIM: The Guardian claimed that journalism charity Full Fact is “the only UK member of” Facebook’s fact-checking programme.

Rating

INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

FactCheckNI is another UK member of Facebook’s third party fact checking programme. The Guardian promptly corrected its article. In an article published on Tuesday, 30

Education

CLAIM: One in five school staff in Northern Ireland are assaulted at least once a week.

Rating

INACCURATE

The survey data was misinterpreted by ICTU. 1 in 10 of those surveyed experience physical abuse at least once weekly. Are one in five school

Education

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Explainer

Labour politician Lord Adonis recently tweeted that he finds it “scandalous that Ulster’s second city is still denied its own university”.

Lord Adonis later acknowledged that Derry/Londonderry had its own campus as part of Ulster University, however its headquarters are in Coleraine. The university used to

Education

CLAIM: A third of Church of Ireland ministry candidates are women.

Rating

INACCURATE

A quarter of CoI accepted and enrolled candidates are women. For the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, its figures of less than 4% female candidates are

Education

CLAIM: “For every child coming into school in Northern Ireland, they are getting much less than their counterparts in other regions of the United Kingdom.”

Rating

ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

Public expenditure on pre-primary and primary education in Northern Ireland is least per child (£3,440; UK average: £4,316) and per head of population (£416; UK

Education

CLAIM: “…a third of young people from Northern Ireland who go to university travel outside Northern Ireland, mainly to the North West of England and Scotland, and only a third of those who graduate return back home.”

Rating

ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

The claim that “a third of young people from Northern Ireland who go to university travel outside Northern Ireland” is closer to a quarter. On

Education

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Elections

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Peace

CLAIM: The Irish News wrote that a funding cut places hundreds of youth work posts at risk.

Rating

UNSUBSTANTIATED

There is no evidence of any cut, nor any proposed cut. Yet there is uncertainty about continued funding, for this and other programmes, in light

Education

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Peace

CLAIM: “The DUP at no point has ever agreed to establish an Irish Language Act with the UK government, with the Irish government, with Sinn Féin or anybody else.”

Rating

ACCURATE

The St Andrew’s Agreement committed the UK Government to an Irish Language Act, but subsequent legislation compelled the Northern Ireland Executive to produce a strategy

Education

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Health

CLAIM: The United Kingdom has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe.

Rating

ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

The claim is true, however, the teenage pregnancy rate in Northern Ireland was the lowest within the British Isles in 2014. According to the most recent

Education

CLAIM: 38% of students have to leave Northern Ireland at age 18 for higher education.

Rating

INACCURATE

Most recent data show a third (33.5%) of school leavers continue studies outside Northern Ireland. While public investment policy in further education is a significant