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A GCSE at 11: 'It'll help the hard work in future'

GCSEs: The pupils sitting their Irish exam at the age of 11

Think back to the day you got your GCSE results and try to remember - were you nervous, excited, confident?

Now imagine that you weren't in your mid teens - like most people who sit GCSEs - but were just 11 years old.

On Thursday, a class of youngsters that age picked up their grades at a primary school in Ballycastle.

Every year, pupils at Gaelscoil an Chaistil sit their Irish GCSE before they have even set foot in secondary school.

Aodhán - a young boy - wears a grey top and stands in front of a drawing of two trees
Aodhán was not fazed by doing a GCSE

So how did they feel before they opened the envelope and saw their result?

"Alright, it's over and done with, all you need to get is your result and what you get is what you get," Lochlan told BBC News NI.

He picked up a B and said sitting a GCSE exam was harder than he was used to.

"The writing was probably the hardest and the listening was the easiest," he said.

"There's harder questions that we wouldn't really do on a day-to-day basis."

That was echoed by his classmate Sorcha.

"It was a bit hard, but I managed," she said.

Hannah said the format of the exam was also a challenge compared to everyday learning.

"All of us try to help each other, normally, but you can't do that in a GCSE exam," she said.

Sorcha, a young girl with black-rimmed glasses and a grey hoody
Sorcha was pleased with her GCSE result

Most pupils from the school go on to Cross and Passion College within weeks of getting their GCSE result.

They said they hoped the experience of sitting a formal exam would stand them in good stead, both for secondary school in general and for future GCSEs.

"It makes it easier, so you know what you're expecting," Hannah said.

Her classmate Aodhán agreed.

"It'll help with just the hard work and knowing what it's like," he said.

A group photo of the class smiling with their results

Parents went along with their children to get their results - and embraced each other as the school kept up its 100% pass rate at grades A* to C.

Patricia, whose daughter Ava was delighted with her grade, said sitting a GCSE at such a young age was great for pupils' confidence.

"When I saw the papers coming home, it's really serious stuff," she said.

"The mental capacity it takes to go in there and sit there and do the exam at 11 years of age is incredible.

"She was very nervous, so just to have done that already I think would give them a good basis for doing GCSEs again in a few years time."

"Her confidence as of today will have shot up a few levels and she'll be well ready to start [secondary school]."

Gaelscoil an Chaistil has been putting pupils through GCSEs since 2010.

Brídín, a woman with blonde hair and glasses
Brídín says there are lots of benefits for pupils

Principal Brídín Ní Dhonnghaile said the school decided to trial it because the children seemed able for it due to their Irish language abilities.

"I take the class and they've been talking to me since they were three and four so it doesn't really take anything out of them to chat to me in Gaelic," she said.

"Their language is more fluent than maybe pupils who have been doing it a few years.

"We've been told that it's really a confidence boost for them when they go to Cross and Passion - or go to secondary- with a GCSE under their belt, especially a very good GCSE.

"Also when they're doing their GCSEs in Year 11 and 12 they don't feel anxious because they've sat one before, so they know what it's about."