Press Release
Date: Thursday 17 August 2006 (NR/22/06)
Traditional subjects to the fore as Northern Ireland students stay ahead of the rest
The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) has this morning released information on the performance of Northern Ireland students in the Summer 2006 A Level examinations.
The headline information is as follows:
- - A Levels remain as popular as ever with 31,237 entries in 2006
- - Traditional subjects remain the most popular choices for Northern Ireland students
- - The overall A – E pass rate has risen slightly by 0.2% to 97.7%
- - The percentage of entries achieving A grades has risen by 1.2% to 32.4%, driven in the main by excellent performances in mathematics, languages and sciences
- - Northern Ireland students continue to outperform their English and Welsh peers
- - Boys continue to close the gap on girls
Speaking following the release of results information Neil Anderson, Director of Operations at CCEA commented:
“ A Levels continue to hold their place as very popular top class qualifications, highly regarded by students, teachers, universities and employers. Congratulations to all of the thousands of candidates receiving their results this morning after much hard work and study. We wish them well as they go on to further their studies or seek employment.”
Entries
2006 has seen a very minor decrease in Northern Ireland entries for A Levels, with overall numbers down by 0.1% (39 entries) to 31,237. This is likely to be due to a number of factors including the falling pupil numbers we have seen in post-primary schools since the turn of the century and the increasing range of qualifications options available for study post -16.
The total number of A Level entries across England , Northern Ireland and Wales has risen this year by 2.8% to 805,698. This again emphasises the continuing popularity of A Levels and is contrary to some recent press speculation.
The subjects most popular with Northern Ireland students remain in the traditional vein. The top five are Biology, English, History, Mathematics and Geography. These five subjects alone represent more than 40% of the overall GCE entry.
Performance
Northern Ireland students have maintained the performance gap with other regions. There was a small rise in the overall A – E pass rate, up 0.2% to 97.7. The equivalent national figure is 96.6%.
The percentage of entries gaining the top grade has risen again by 1.2% to 32.4%. This compares favourably to the national figure where grades have risen by 1.3% to 24.1%.
Speaking on the improvement at the top grade Mr Anderson said:
“We’ve taken a close look at what has been driving the rise in A grades this year. What we have found is very strong performances in the areas of mathematics, languages and sciences. Indeed these areas make up nine of the top ten performing subjects at the A grade. Strong showings in subjects such as mathematics, biology and physics have contributed greatly to the top line figure we’re seeing today”
Boy/Girl performance
Girls continue to win the battle of the sexes. However slowly but surely the boys are catching up, outperforming girls at the A grade in Biology, Economics, English, Irish, Further Maths and Technology. This differs considerably from the national picture where boys only do better in one area – modern languages.
Overall there is a decrease of 0.2% in the gender difference at A – E, which means that the gap on performance at the overall pass rate is just 0.4%. However while boys improved their performance at the top A grade, girls did too and opened up the gap a little further by 0.9% to 3.9%.
AS Levels
There were 38,099 entries for all subjects at AS level in 2006, a 1.5% increase on entries from last year (37,543 entries).
The most popular subjects at AS Level also continue in the traditional vein – Biology, English, History, Mathematics and Geography.
Performance is also at a similar pattern to A level with 32.6% of entries achieving the top grade, up 1.2% from 2005, and 94.7% achieving A – E grade, a 0.1% increase on last year.
Advanced Extension Awards (AEA)
The AEA examination was first awarded in 2002 and aims to stretch the most able candidates. While Northern Ireland entries have risen in 2006 from 34 to 55 (a 55.9% rise) they are still very low. Nationally just 11,099 entries were made for AEA.
In Northern Ireland 18.9% of candidates were awarded a Distinction and 35.8% a Merit.
Detailed Tabulations for Northern Ireland and National GCE and AS results are being sent along with this news re
GCE A Level Results at a glance 2006 ( 2005 figures in brackets )
Please note the figures below are provisional and subject to enquiry and appeal
2006 |
NI ONLY |
NATIONALLY |
ENTRIES |
31, 237 (31,276) |
805, 698 (783,878) |
%A |
32.4 (31.2) |
24.1 (22.8) |
%A - B |
61.0 (59.7) |
48.1 (46.6) |
%A - C |
82.4 (81.7) |
71.3 (69.9) |
%A -D |
93.3 (93.0) |
87.9 (87.1) |
%A - E |
97.7 (97.5 |
96.6 (96.2) |
Top five most popular A level Subjects in N Ireland
|
OVERALL |
MALES |
FEMALES |
1 |
Biology (10.5%) |
Mathematics (9.5%) |
Biology (11.3%) |
2 |
English (8.7%) |
Biology (9.4%) |
English (10.7%) |
3 |
History (8.2%) |
History (9.3%) |
Religious Studies (8.5%) |
4 |
Mathematics (7.5%) |
Geography (7.1%) |
History (7.3%) |
5 |
Geography (6.9%) |
Physics (6.5%) |
Geography (6.7%) |
GCE AS Level Results at a glance 2006 (2005 figures in brackets)
2006 |
NI ONLY |
NATIONALLY |
ENTRIES |
38,099 (37,543) |
1,086,634 (1,079,566) |
%A |
32.6 (31.4) |
18.4 (17.9) |
%A - B |
57.2 (56.5) |
36.9 (36.4) |
%A -C |
76.7 (76.5) |
57.3 (56.8) |
%A - D |
88.4 (88.4) |
74.8 ( 74.5) |
%A - E |
94.7 (94.6) |
87.5 (87.3) |
The five most popular AS subjects in Northern Ireland:
|
OVERALL |
MALES |
FEMALES |
1 |
Biology (10.8%) |
Biology (9.8%) |
Biology (11.6%) |
2 |
English (8.1%) |
Mathematics (9.2%) |
English (10.1%) |
3 |
History (7.6%) |
History (8.7%) |
Religious Studies (7.8%) |
4 |
Mathematics (7.5%) |
Physics (7.6%) |
History (6.8%) |
5 |
Geography (6.6%) |
Geography (7.0%) |
Geography (6.3%) |
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.
