RBAI is a member of the North Belfast Area Learning Community (NBALC). NBALC is made up of 11 post primary schools, and also includes Belfast Metropolitan College. Whilst the community recognises the autonomy and ethos of the individual schools, the member schools and BMC work in partnership to implement a curriculum that will better meet the needs of pupils. Being a member of NBALC allows pupils at RBAI to access a wider choice of academic, applied and vocational courses – although it should be noted that we already offer 28 subjects at GCSE level and the same in the Sixth Form.
RBAI is also collaborating with Belfast Metropolitan College (Millfield Campus) in the delivery of theBTEC National Extended Certificate in Engineering, a qualification that is equivalent to one ‘A’ level. Along with their other Sixth Form subjects, pupils at RBAI study at the Belfast Metropolitan College for this qualification. As we have aligned one of our Options Blocks with the Belfast Metropolitan College, this collaboration means that there is no disruption to the rest of a pupil’s timetable.