Editorial: Our children deserve a bright future here in Northern Ireland after exam results

A nerve-wracking wait for exam results is now over for tens of thousands of young people in Northern Ireland with many now planning their futures after school or college.

A-level, AS-level and BTec results were handed out yesterday, and it was another impressive set of results for local children and for their schools and further education colleges across the province.

26,000 students got their results, with provisional figures showing that 30.7% of students received a grade A or above, up from 30.3% the previous year.

Of course, not everyone will have got the news they were hoping for – and will now face an anxious wait to secure university places or further study.

As those of us who are long past the days of exams and university applications know, it may seem like the end of the world at the time – but it certainly is not. Between resits, gap years or applying somewhere else – there are plenty of options.

For those off to university in the coming weeks, whether their first choice or not, there are great opportunities ahead to learn more about their chosen subjects – but about life and the world.

Hopefully, most of those who head across the water or farther afield will want to come back to Northern Ireland. For that to happen, there needs to be jobs for them to return to. Our Executive should be backing investment from across the free world, creating the jobs that will build not just our economy but our society.

The same applies to those who have completed their vocational qualifications and are hoping to get straight into apprenticeships or work.

All of these young people will one day be shaping Northern Ireland’s future for themselves and their own children – if we can persuade them to stay, or come home.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​