Fall in top NI GCSE grades compared to last year

There has been a fall in the percentage of people receiving top GCSE grades in Northern Ireland in 2024 compared to last year.

About 31% of students achieved grade A and above, compared to the pre-pandemic levels of 30.5% in 2019.

Grades A* and A were awarded to about 34.5% of GCSE entries in 2023.

Entries for GCSE qualifications have also increased by 4.4% from 168,118 in 2023 to 175,555.

The Joint Council for Qualifications said that 82.7% of students received grades of C and above, “similar to the 82.2% awarded in 2019”.

Some 86% of GCSE entries in Northern Ireland were awarded grade C or above in 2023 and 90% in 2022.

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Park School Belfast pupil Joseph was awarded full marks in his Maths GCSE.

"I knew that I'd done well but not full marks. I'm over the moon", he told BBC News NI.

"Maths comes really naturally to me, I enjoy to study on my own."

As well as an A* in GCSE Maths, Joseph also achieved three Level 2 awards and one Entry Level 3 award.

“I plan eventually to go to Stranmillis to do a bachelors to learn how to teach maths."

"Then I would like to teach maths here at Park School and be the maths coordinator... everyone has to leave their mark."

It's been a good start to the day for Calla from St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon.

She achieved 10A*s in her GCSEs.

"I was a bit nervous driving in but I definitely feel better now", she told BBC News NI.

Calla said she would like to do Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Irish at A-level.

"I haven't decided which Uni I'd go to but I'm thinking of doing medicine."

Caoimhin plans to stay at St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon for A-levels after finding out that he got 9A*s and 1 A in his GCSEs.

"I was nervous going into the exams but not as nervous coming here today", he told BBC News NI.

"You can't do anything about it at this stage. No point in stressing too much.”

Sophie Cooke, a student at Londonderry’s Lisneal College, has long-held career ambitions of working with animals.

She told BBC News NI that her passion came from helping care for her grandfather’s injured dog.

“I want to go on and do veterinary nursing, I have to study that for three years,” she said.

She said she is delighted with her results, which include an A* in childcare and a CC double award in science.

Those results, along with the valuable experience she is currently getting working in a veterinary surgery in Derry, put her well on her way to fulfilling her professional goals.

“If I want to go on to be a vet surgeon, that will take five years. After the three years, I’ll have the option of going to uni,” she said.

31% of GCSE entries in Northern Ireland have received an A or A* grade – roughly in line with the proportion before the pandemic.

Last year, the figure was 34.5%.

The drop in the proportion of top grades was expected – given that results have been returning to the levels prior to the covid outbreak in 2020.

In 2019, 30.5% of entries in this part of the UK were A or higher.

82.7% of entries in 2024 received grade C or above

Using 2019 as a comparator, Maths and English Language results have been better, with a 2% increase in the number receiving A/A* - 27.8% in Maths, and 24.7% in English language.

Around 32,000 students in Northern Ireland are getting their exam grades today.

"I'm incredibly proud of what Northern Ireland has achieved, continuing to succeed against England and Wales," the education Minister told BBC News NI.

"My own daughter was getting her GCSE results this morning, so I was like many other parents last night, slightly anxious up this morning into school and waiting for my daughter coming to tell me how she'd got on and her results."

"For many of the young people, today is a day of celebration. For some, they may be disappointed, but today doesn't define you. It's very much about who you are, as a person, your character, and you can rise to those challenges," he added.

GCSE, AS and A-level exams were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and pupils were awarded grades calculated by their schools instead.

In subsequent years, pupils have been given assistance including having advance information released about exam topics.

That had led to an increase in the number of top grades awarded, but GCSE results this year are likely to be similar to those in 2019.

The vast majority of GCSEs in Northern Ireland are taken by pupils through CCEA.

The remainder are taken through English and Welsh exam boards, so some pupils in Northern Ireland will receive results in the form of numbers as well as letters.

That is because GCSEs in England are graded numerically from 9 to 1.

Pupils use their GCSE and results of other qualifications like BTECs to progress to A-levels, courses in Further Education, training or employment.

"I'm actually pretty pleased with myself. I've got six A's and two 2c stars, so much better than I thought," Emily told BBC News NI.

The Dromore High student only arrived back from a hockey tour in Holland with Portadown ladies Hockey Club last night.

"We were all nervously waiting and getting the bus back from Dublin was painful. But we finally made it, and we finally got them."

"The results in the hockey were also amazing. We won all three of our matches," Emily added.

Richard Kirk, the CEO of Workplus told Good Morning Ulster that the "snobbery around apprenticeships is definitely diminishing but we need more employers to get involved."

Workplus is an organisation that links employers with would-be apprentices.

After her GCSE'S, Ella decided to do a traineeship with South West College Enniskillen in Light Vehicle Apprentice.

"I absolutely love it", she told BBC programme Good Morning Ulster.

"I choose to do it because school was very book based and that didn't really suit me. I'm more of a hands on person and find it easier to learn something if I'm actually doing it."

Jack was an Construction Engineering apprentice at the Northern Region College, Coleraine.

With a BTEC Level 3 Diploma and foundation degree under his belt, he is now doing an honour's degree in Construction Engineering and Management.

"There was a stigma. I was never a fan of exams so I never really had the desire to do A-levels. I always had an interest in the construction industry."