Annual Qualifications Insight Reports
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Every year, we produce a significant amount of information and analysis about GCSE and GCE qualifications, using data from across Northern Ireland and our own qualification results.
We present much of this information and analysis to the media and public during the summer months. However, we believe a detailed analysis of the data is of interest to a narrower educational audience. With this in mind, since 2015 we began publishing Annual Qualifications Insight Reports.
Qualifications Insight Reports 2015-2021
Each Insight Report contains a comparative analysis aimed at identifying trends in 16–18 year old students’ uptake of and performance in selected GCSE and A level subjects. Reports have been published annually since 2015 and have progressed over time to highlight CCEA’s commitment to producing data for analysis and to show organisational transparency.
Initial Insight Reports focused primarily on subject entries and analysis of actual and predictive academic performance. However, since 2018, the report was expanded to incorporate additional commentary which attempts to explain important trends identified by the data within each respective report. Previous Insight Reports have assessed literature around gender and performance, female underrepresentation in STEM and motivations behind subject choice etc.
The overall aim of this is to provide stakeholders, including policy makers, education professionals and industry professionals, with a summary of trends and to encourage debate and discussion on the issues identified. Additionally, over time it is hoped that the content of these reports can encourage new research endeavours and promote innovation across the education sectors.