Press Release
Date: Tuesday 20 December 2005 (NR/32/05)
CCEA gives top marks to A level students
Northern Ireland’s top-performing A level students have been honoured at a special award ceremony ‘Celebrating Excellence’, organised by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).
CCEA’s ‘Celebrating Excellence’ awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of twenty-eight young people who achieved overall first place in their subject in CCEA’s summer 2005 A level examinations.
The ceremony brings together the top achieving pupils with parents, principals, heads of departments and subject teachers. Representatives from the Education and Library Boards, Department of Education and appropriate subject bodies will also be in attendance.
Looking forward to the event, CCEA Chief Executive , Gavin Boyd , commented:
“I am delighted to welcome these young people, their parents and their teachers to CCEA to celebrate their remarkable accomplishments. The students honoured today are the top-performing A Level students in the highest-performing region of the UK . Their hard work and dedication has earned them a place amongst the top 0.1% of CCEA A Level students. This is an outstanding achievement, on which they are to be thoroughly congratulated.
Summer 2005 saw a record number of entries for CCEA A levels, with 19,825 entries compared with 18,406 in 2004. 35.1% of entries achieved a grade A, compared to 22.8% nationally. CCEA’s overall pass rate of 98.5 also compares favourably with the national figure of 96.2%.
A levels are and will remain rigorous, highly-valued and world-class qualifications. To be amongst the top-performing students in any A level subject is no mean feat and is testament to Northern Ireland ’s excellent education system, and of course to the hard work of the young people and all the support they have received both inside and outside school. They should be extremely proud of everything they have accomplished and CCEA wishes them well for the future.”
CCEA’s Celebrating Excellence awards ceremony took place on Tuesday 20 December 2005 at 1.30pm at CCEA, 29 Clarendon Road, Clarendon Dock, Belfast . A second ceremony will also be held in March to award those students who achieved the top marks in the summer 2005 GCSE examinations.
Top Candidates – Celebrating Excellence Award Winners
SUBJECT |
NAME |
CENTRE |
Biology |
Helen T McKenna |
St Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt |
Technology & Design |
Glenn R H Sloan |
Coleraine Academical Institution |
Art & Design |
Charlene Higgins |
St Louis Grammar, Kilkeel |
Geography |
David Mark Wood |
Sullivan Upper, Holywood |
Business Studies |
Pamela R Glover |
Rainey Endowed, Magherafelt |
French |
Una E Brogan |
Loreto Grammar, Omagh |
French |
Owen M Thompson |
Regent House |
English Literature |
Meabh C McLoughlin |
Our Lady and St Patrick's College |
Information Communication Technology |
Triona D Doherty |
Lumen Christi College , Derry |
Economics |
Francis Geary |
Royal Belfast Academical Institution |
Govt & Politics, History |
Thomas Michael Lowe |
Royal Belfast Academical Institution |
Spanish |
William A Kilpatrick |
Grosvenor Grammar |
German |
Rebbecca E Riddles |
Glenlola Collegiate |
Art & Design |
Helen Semple |
Our Lady and St Patrick's College |
French |
Sarah L Donaldson |
Ballymena Academey |
Home Economics |
Lyndsey Meredith |
Portadown College |
Music |
Niall Joseph Dumigan |
St Patrick's Grammar School, Downpatrick |
Mathematics |
Donal Michael Connolly |
Christian Brothers' Grammar, Omagh |
Religious Studies |
Deborah Steele |
Foyle and Londonderry College |
French |
Victoria Debora Schmidt |
Belfast High School |
History of Art and Design |
Rhonda ZP Nicholl |
Victoria College , Belfast |
Mathematics/ Further Mathematics |
Feargal McGuinness |
St Malachy's Belfast |
Art & Design |
Aidan Owen Monaghan |
St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar |
Art & Design |
John Quinn |
Down High School |
Art & Design |
Hannah Alexandra Lynn |
Down High School |
Physics |
Mary-Ellen Lynall |
Methodist College |
Chemistry |
Steven Patrick Rice |
Abbey Grammar Newry |
Irish |
Darren Patrick Magee |
Abbey Grammar Newry |
*** The following additional award will also be made:
Thomas Lowe, RBAI Belfast – Tim McCall Award for History
The Tim McCall History Award
The Tim McCall History Award is presented annually to the top candidate in the CCEA GCE A Level History examination. This is the sixth year of the award.
The award is dedicated to the memory of Tim McCall, who inspired the development of history syllabuses and guided examiners in the annual conduct of the examinations from 1983 until his untimely death in 1999.
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
