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Years 12 and 14 examination performance at post-primary schools in Northern Ireland 2011/12 (Provisional)

A statistical press release presenting an analysis of examination performance for pupils in years 12 and 14 at post- primary schools in the north of Ireland for 2011/12 has been published today.
~ Tuesday, 27 November 2012

The data are taken from the Summary of Annual Examination Results (SAER) process which collates and validates data with schools. A further release of this data will issue in March 2013 and will include the results of those pupils who availed of an early re-sit opportunity in GCSE English and English Language Examinations.

Year 12 Pupils (End of Key Stage 4)

There were 21,828 pupils in year 12 eligible for GCSE (or equivalent) examination reporting - 9,194 in grammar schools and 12,634 in non-grammar schools. This continues the recent trend of decline in the year 12 exam cohort and represents a decrease of 2,926 pupils since 2005/06, when there were 24,754 eligible year 12 pupils.

Overall Year 12 Performance

  • 59.2% of year 12 pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs (including equivalents) at grades A*-C including GCSE English and Mathematics, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from 60.1% in 2010/11.
  • 77.7% of year 12 pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs (including equivalents) at grades A*-C, an increase of 2.4 percentage points from 75.3% in 2010/11.
  • Females generally perform better than their male counterparts, 82.3% of female pupils in year 12 achieved 5 or more GCSEs (including equivalents) at grades A*-C compared to 73.3% of males, a gap of 9.0 percentage points.

Year 14 Pupils

  • The year 14 performance figures are based on the number of pupils at the end of a level 3 (A level or equivalent) course of study.
  • There were 12,961 pupils in year 14 entered for A level (or equivalent) examinations. This represents an increase of 212 since 2010/11, when there were 12,749 pupils in year 14 entered for A level (or equivalent) examinations. This reflects an increase in the proportion of pupils staying on in school.

Year 14 Performance

  • 98.1% of year 14 pupils achieved 2 or more A levels (including equivalents) at grades A*-E, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the 97.7% achieved in 2010/11.
  • 64.7% of year 14 pupils achieved 3 or more A levels (including equivalents) at grades A*-C. This is an increase of 0.2 percentage points since 2010/11.