CCEA Chief Executive Comments on the release of Northern Ireland's GCE Grades

“Since the cancellation of the exams, it has been a very unsettling and challenging period for the education community, particularly our students.   Northern Ireland’s students, and those across the UK, Ireland and further afield, due to COVID-19 were unable to sit their exams, as has been common place for so many before, and will be for so many in the future.  

All of us at CCEA, working closely with the education community, have strived to ensure that students are able to progress this year. As a result of this collaborative work, we have delivered grades to students which we predict they would have achieved had they sat the examinations and which carry the same value as in previous years.

“Northern Ireland students have seen slight increases across grades, which are comparable with previous year on year performance for this particular year group.

“Mathematics remains the most popular A - level overall with 1 in 10 students studying the subject.

“The proportion of students taking STEM subjects has increased slightly and now accounts for almost 40% of A - level entries in Northern Ireland. Languages have also experienced a slight increase with Spanish being the most popular subject.

“The grades received by students this morning will enable them to progress to the next stage of their journey, be it in education or employment. We wish them all every success.”