North A-level results: Numbers securing top A-level grades fall but stay above pre-pandemic levels

The percentage of pupils achieving the top A-level grades in Northern Ireland has fallen since last year but remains higher than pre-pandemic levels.

More than 26,000 students received the results of AS (Advanced Subsidiary) and A-level exams on Thursday morning, as well as those who sat vocational qualifications such as BTecs.

This year 37.5 per cent of A-level entries achieved the top A and A* grades, compared to 44 per cent last year and 29.4 per cent in 2019, the last set of exams before the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A total of 98.8 per cent of results were graded between A* and E.

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Northern Ireland’s exam board, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), said the results reflected the ongoing process of returning to pre-pandemic grading.

Biology overtook mathematics as the most popular A-level subject overall for the first time in nine years, accounting for just under one in ten entries.

For boys, mathematics remained the most popular subject, compared to health and social care for girls.

Over a third of A-level entries in Northern Ireland continue to be in Stem subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The total number of entries increased by 1.3 per cent to 32,925 from 32,506 in 2022, which CCEA said was in line with the school-age population.

At AS-level – which is typically taken halfway through the two-year period of A-level study – 33.5 per cent of entries received the top A grade, compared to 38.8 per cent in 2022 and 26.4 per cent in 2019. The top A* grade, which is given at A-level, is not awarded at AS level.

This year 97.5 per cent of AS entries were marked at grade A-E, compared to 98.2 per cent in 2022 and 95.7 per cent in 2019.

AS level entries increased by 11.3 per cent compared to 2022, rising from 35,328 to 39,336 entries.

A “significant” package of support was put in place for students taking exams this year to take account of the continued impact of Covid-19 disruption.

Students who sat A-level exams this year did not sit GCSEs, which were cancelled due to the pandemic, and this year were provided with advance information on some topics in the majority of exams.

In 2020 and 2021 there were no exams, and students received teacher-assessed grades instead.

CCEA expects to return to pre-Covid grading standards across all subjects by next summer.

Most students in Northern Ireland sit exams set by CCEA, but schools can opt to study with other exam boards in England and Wales.

The chief executive of CCEA, Gerry Campbell, sent his “congratulations to the thousands of students across Northern Ireland who received their results today.

“These young people are to be praised and admired for the resilience and hard work they have demonstrated throughout their studies,” he said.

The North’s Department for the Economy is operating a careers advice service for young people receiving exam results on Thursday.

It can be contacted on 0300 200 7820 with lines open 9:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday, or via webchat or email at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/careers.