Slight rise in students achieving top GCSE grades

Almost a tenth of entries were awarded an A*.

Girls extended the performance gap over boys at grades A* to C by half a percentage point, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications.

The proportion of science, technology, engineering and maths entries increased to almost a third.

Northern Ireland pupils continued to make steady improvements, with small rises across the grades.

The proportion of entries awarded A* - C grades has risen by 0.4% this year to 79.1%. Entries achieving A* - A have improved 0.5% to 29.1%, and entries achieving the top A* grade now sit at 9.3%, a slight rise of 0.3% on last year.

In English, A* - C performance rose by 2% to 77.8% of entries this year.

In mathematics, A* - C performance fell by 1.7% to 64.9% of entries. At age 16 the performance was stable at 68.4%, with a decline of 0.2% compared to last year.

The sciences continue to perform strongly with A* - C performance in biology rising 0.6% to 92.2% of entries, chemistry up 0.1% to 93.6 of entries, and physics up 0.3% to 95.9% of entries.

Girls continued to perform better than boys, with 82.9% gaining the A* - C grades (up 0.7% on last year). The tally of boys achieving A*- C grades also improved to 75.3%, up 0.2% on 2015.

Stormont education minister Peter Weir said pupils continued to show steady improvement, with small rises across the grades.

Students again outperformed their counterparts in England and Wales.

Mr Weir said: “High standards have once again been achieved in this year’s GCSE examination results, with over 79.1% of local candidates achieving A*-C grades and 29.1% achieving A*-A, representing a slight increase in both categories on last year.

“I am pleased to see that entries for Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) have grown by 2.4% in Northern Ireland.

“This growth is stronger than the equivalent UK figure of 0.1% and means Stem subjects here account for close to one-third of all GCSE entries.”