Northern Ireland pupils are top performers in Europe at maths

Children in Northern Ireland are the best in Europe at maths, and sixth best in the world at the subject.

The outstanding performances of pupils from the Province were highlighted in a Trends In International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS).

Northern Ireland comes just behind the top five - Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan - where students aged around 10 years old continue to outperform all participating countries in Europe at maths.

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The TIMSS reports have been published every four years since 1995.

The survey found Children in East Asian countries continue to do better than their peers around the world in mathematics, according to a report.

This maintains a 20-year edge, according to results released from TIMSS - the longest-running large-scale international assessment of mathematics and science education in the world at the International Study Centre at Boston College.

Between the top-performing countries and the next highest performer - Northern Ireland - there is a gap of 23 points.

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Singapore is on 618 points, Hong Kong on 615 points, Korea on 608 points, Chinese Taipei on 597 points, Japan on 593 points, while Northern Ireland is next on 570 points.

England is on 546 points and Ireland is on 547 points.

Northern Ireland and England showed the same average achievement from 2011 to 2015.

An average of 36% of students hit the high benchmark of 550 in which students are said to be able to apply knowledge and understanding to solve problems.