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25/08/2006
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 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.” (CD)
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.” (CD)
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Students Reminded Of Apprenticeship Options
Robin Swann, the Ulster Unionist Chair of Stormont's Employment and Learning Committee, has congratulated this year's GCSE students, as well as advising them to carefully consider the options available to them.
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