Minister for Education Caitríona Ruane is expected to tell the Northern Assembly today that next year's controversial 11-plus schools transfer test will be the last. She is also expected to outline the new method of allocating post-primary pupils to the most appropriate school.
The abolition of the 11-plus has already been announced, but confirmation of the move and further details of the Sinn Féin Minister's plans for the reform of education have been awaited for some time.
Ms Ruane has long held that 14 is a more appropriate age for school children to decide whether they will opt for vocational or more academic paths. It is thought that the Dickson model, which has been in place in the Craigavon area of Co Armagh and which involve so-called junior high or middle schools which cater for pupils from age 11 to age 14, could be extended further. Under such a system pupils are "streamed" over a longer time-span which also allows for more in-depth assessment by teachers in association with parents.
The Minister's wide-ranging statement will be one of the most contentious issues to be heard in the Assembly.
Sinn Féin remains opposed to what it calls "academic selection" - the setting of entrance examinations by Northern Ireland's grammar schools, many of which have fine academic records at external examinations.
The SDLP is also opposed to the 11-plus. However, unionists, and particularly those in the DUP, are pledged to defend the grammar school sector. The type of changes expected to be revealed in the Assembly today could have significant implications for the school regime across Northern Ireland.
Alliance Assembly member Trevor Lunn said: "This total uncertainty is absolutely no good for pupils, parents and teachers alike. A decision on the future of the 11-plus cannot come soon enough. Caitríona Ruane's delay in making a decision on the 11-plus has created a vacuum in which speculation alone has existed. This speculation is doing our education system a real disservice."