31% of GCSE students in Northern Ireland receive grade A/A*

More than 30% of GCSE students in Northern Ireland received grade A or better in this year’s exams.

Some 32,018 youngsters in the north received their results on Thursday morning following assessments in the first full year without exceptional arrangements implemented due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Overall, 31% of students achieved grade A or above.

This is down from 34.5% in 2023, but up on the last directly comparable year in 2019 (30.5%).

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Meanwhile, 82.7% of students received a grade C or above, similar to the rate of 82.2% awarded in 2019.

The number of GCSE entries in Northern Ireland was also up from 168,118 in 2023 to 175,555, in line with the school population increase.

Following several years of disruption and interim arrangements, this year has been described as marking the completion of the transition from measures put in place during the pandemic – such as the cancellation of exams, reduced assessment criteria and generous grading.

Exam board CCEA has indicated that grades awarded this week will be lower than during the pandemic years, but directly comparable to those issued before 2020.

Last week, just over 26,000 students in Northern Ireland received A-level and AS-level results, with almost a third receiving a top A/A* grade.

This 30.3% was similar to the rate achieving A/A* grades in 2019 (29.4%), but down on the 37.5% rate in 2023 when some mitigations remained in place.

Education Minister Paul Givan congratulated students during a visit to Dromore High School in Co Down on Thursday morning.

He described results as “exceptional” and a “credit to the teaching staff and pupils”.

“The results we have received here and right across Northern Ireland are tremendous,” he said.

“I am delighted when I look back at 2019 because we have achieved slightly higher grades, but then I benchmark it across the United Kingdom, and when we’re sitting at nearly 83% of a pass rate of A* to C compared to England at 67%, Wales at 62%, I am delighted with those results and it shows how we have excellence here in Northern Ireland and I want to continue to support our schools to deliver that in the future,” he added.