12/12/2013

Poorer GCSE Children Perform Half As Well In School

Poorer children in Northern Ireland taking GCSEs perform half as well as their classmates, according to a study of examination performance at post-primary schools in 2012-2013.

The statistics, released by the Department of Education, were calculated by comparing the performance of those pupils entitled to free school meals (FSME) to those who are not entitled.

33.9% of Year 12 FSME pupils achieved five or more GCSEs (including equivalents) at grades A*-C, including GCSE English and GCSE maths, compared with 66.7% of non-FSME pupils, the study found.

79.6% of Year 12 pupils achieved five or more GCSEs (including equivalents) at grades A*-C. This indicated an increase of 1.8% from 77.8% in 2011/12. 62.6% of Year 12 FSME pupils achieved this indicator.

The study also found that 65.4% of female pupils in Year 12 achieved five or more GCSEs (including equivalents), including GCSE English and GCSE maths, at grades A*-C, compared to 56.4% of males. This indicated a gap of 9.0%.

65.2% of Year 14 pupils achieved three or more A-levels (including equivalents) at grades A*-C. This is an increase of 0.4% since 2011/12 (64.8%). 50.9% of A-level (or equivalent) FSME pupils achieved this indicator.

(IT/JP)

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