NI students still top of the class at GCSE

Northern Ireland students remain top of the class in GCSE performance figures, once again outperforming their peers in England and Wales, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) has today revealed.

Northern Ireland has maintained its place as the top performing GCSE region but there has been a slowing down in the rate at which grades are rising.

This year, the percentage of entries gaining an A* to A grade has risen by 0.3% to 24.3%. The equivalent national figure is 19.1%.

Entries gaining grades A* to C also rose slightly this year from 71% to 71.7%. The national equivalent stands at 62.4%.

GCSE entries have dropped again this year, but not as dramatically as in 2005.

This summer saw the Northern Ireland entry fall from 198,891 to 195,530, a drop of 3,361 or 1.7%. Although the majority of this fall appears to be due to students pursuing alternative courses at 16, particularly Applied (work related) GCSEs, part may also be down to the falling school population at Year 12. Nationally GCSE entries rose this year by 0.3% to 5,752,152.

The CCEA also revealed that the majority of GCSE entries are in the core areas of English, Mathematics and the sciences. Girls continue to hold the upper hand, but as at A Level the gender performance gap continues to narrow. In particular at grades A* to C, boys closed the gap by almost 2% from 8.9% of a difference in 2005 to 7.1% this year.

Commenting on the NI performance figures, CCEA Director of Operations Neil Anderson said: “This is a very sound performance from our GCSE students. They can be very proud. Of particular note is that our pupils outperform their English and Welsh peers in key areas such as English, Mathematics and the sciences.

“Whilst we have seen a drop in the numbers taking traditional GCSEs there has been a rise of almost 2,500 in numbers taking the new Applied GCSE courses. While the numbers overall are still small it marks steady progress in our work to ensure there are a range of relevant and challenging pathways for all pupils at 16.

“We are very pleased to see the growth in numbers now taking CCEA’s pilot GCSE in Learning for Life and Work. Entries have more than doubled this year, rising to more than 4,000 in 2006.”

Secretary of State Peter Hain today congratulated young people across Northern Ireland on this year’s examination results.

Mr Hain said: “Today’s GCSE results, coming on top of last week’s excellent A and AS Level results, show that Northern Ireland has the talent needed to succeed on the global stage.

“These results are the product of years of hard work by pupils and teachers alike. I am determined that all pupils and teachers get the support they need to continue achieving well, and I want to ensure that no child going through Northern Ireland’s education system is underachieving.

“That is why I have committed record levels of investment to the education system, and I have made sure money goes directly to the classroom so teachers and pupils get the benefit.”

He continued: “These results represent success across the board in Northern Ireland’s education system. The new arrangements for post primary education will build on this success, raising standards for every child. The revised curriculum will give pupils a greater choice of academic and vocational qualifications, harnessing talents to produce the skills needed for the 21st century economy.

“I wish our young people every success for the future, whether they decide to continue in education, training or to enter employment.”

(EF)