Press Release
Date: Wednesday 14 March 2012 (NR/02/12)
Top GCSE students celebrate success at CCEA awards ceremony
Lisburn Civic Centre was packed with talent for The Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) awards ceremony in honour of the top achieving GCSE students.
The GCSE ‘Celebrating Excellence’ event brings together those students who achieved top overall marks in the summer 2011 CCEA examinations.
Over fifty of the most successful 16 and 17 year olds from Northern Ireland attended the event with their families, teachers and principals.
Gavin Boyd, Interim Chief Executive at CCEA was there to congratulate the students. He commented:
Our Celebrating Excellence event is a time to acknowledge the hardwork of these students and their exceptional GCSE results. Celebrating their success is a pleasure and we hope the recognition they receive today will help motivate them as they study for their A-levels, or gain work experience.
In congratulating the students, I would also like to take a moment to recognise the vital role played by teachers, family and friends who have supported and encouraged them in their studies.
Our young people face an increasingly challenging and competitive world. So it is more important than ever that their skills and learning are constantly evolving to meet the changing demands of the 21st Century.
The young people recognised today can look to the future with optimism and I have no doubt they will play an important role in growing our society and economy.
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Twin sisters Maria (left) and Catherine Tennyson from St Mary's Grammar School Magherafelt celebrate their joint success at the CCEA Celebrating Excellence awards ceremony. Both the girls received Top Candidate awards in GCSE English! Catherine and Maria are now studying for A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography and Further Mathematics after both receiving 12 A*s at GCSE!
 & Gavin Boyd1.jpg)
Adam Robinson of Campbell College was CCEA's Top Candidate in GCSE Technology and Design and he also picked up the prestigious David Mack Award for Technology and Design. Here he is at the CCEA Celebrating Excellence awards ceremony with CCEA Chief Executive Gavin Boyd. Adam is now studying Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry at AS Level. He intends to study either Engineering or Finance at Queen's University or at a university across the water.
Additional Information
Celebrating excellence – GCSE awards ceremony
Programme of events:
Programme for event
Opening Remarks - 12.30pm
Award Ceremony - 12.40pm
David Mack Award for Technology and Design - 1.15pm
Closing Remarks - 1.20pm
Lunch - 1.30pm
Top Candidates – Celebrating Excellence Award Winners
| Subject | School | Candidate Name | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additional Mathematics | Ballymena Academy | Rachel Herbison | Joint 1st |
| Additional Mathematics | Banbridge Academy | Romy Gerring | Joint 1st |
| Additional Mathematics | Methodist College Belfast | Aimee Duffy | Joint 1st |
| Applied Business | Slemish College | Laura Devenney | 1st |
| Applied ICT | St Columbanus’ College, Bangor | Sarah Brown | 1st |
| Applied Science | Hazelwood Integrated College, Belfast | Ryan Hunt | 1st |
| Biology | Ballyclare High School | Gillian McCloy | 1st |
| Business & Communication Systems | Omagh High School | Aimee Davis | 1st |
| Business Studies | Rathmore Grammar School, Belfast | Niall Brown | 1st |
| Chemistry | St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt | Peter Maguire | 1st |
| Child Development | St Patrick’s High School, Keady | Paula McParland | 1st |
| Construction | Ballymena Academy | Craig Barkley | 1st |
| Drama | St Dominic’s Grammar School for Girls, Belfast | Andrea Franklin | 1st |
| Economics | Methodist College Belfast | Jessica Chen | 1st |
| Engineering | Antrim Grammar School | Dani Kansanaho | 1st |
| English | Lumen Christi College | Helen L Brady | Joint 1st |
| English | St Killian's College | Emily Campbell | Joint 1st |
| English | St Mary’s Grammar School, Magerafelt | Catherine Tennyson | Joint 1st |
| English | St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt | Maria Tennyson | Joint 1st |
| English Literature | Wellington College Belfast | Emily Graham | 1st |
| French | Ballymena Academy | Naomi Boon | Joint 1st |
| French | Ballymena Academy | Holly Fullerton | Joint 1st |
| French | Belfast Royal Academy | Luke Taylor | Joint 1st |
| Gaeilge | St Dominic’s Grammar School for Girls, Belfast | Laura Mahony | 1st |
| Geography | Ballymena Academy | Holly Fullerton | 1st |
| German | Glenlola Collegiate, Bangor | Hanna Geary | 1st |
| Health & Social Care DA | Cross & Passion College, Ballycastle | Aimee Magee | 1st |
| Health & Social Care SA | St Colm’s High School, Draperstown | Shauna Bradley | 1st |
| History | Down High School, Downpatrick | Clare Cunningham | 1st |
| Home Economics | Methodist College Belfast | Alexandra Duignan | 1st |
| Hospitality | Malone College, Belfast | Jade Lyttle | 1st |
| ICT | The Royal School Dungannon | Jason Pang | 1st |
| ICT Short Course | Banbridge Academy | Anna Sturgeon | Joint 1st |
| ICT Short Course | Banbridge Academy | RoryThompson | Joint 1st |
| Irish | Holy Cross College, Strabane | Aoife Nig Loingsigh | Joint 1st |
| Irish | St Dominic’s Grammar School for Girls, Belfast | Sian Ní Bhraonáin | Joint 1st |
| Irish | St Dominic’s Grammar School for Girls, Belfast | Jo Willoughby | Joint 1st |
| Irish | St Michaels College, Enniskillen | Mark Corrigan | Joint 1st |
| Journalism | The Wallace High School, Lisburn | Natasha Gillies | 1st |
| Learning for Life and Work Linear | St Genevieve’s High School, Belfast | Megan Diamond | 1st |
| Learning for Life and Work Modular | St Catherine’s College, Armagh | Eadaoin Farrell | 1st |
| Leisure and Tourism | Castlederg High School | Rosie Henderson | 1st |
| Manufacturing | Castlederg High School | Adam Lowry | 1st |
| Modular Mathematics | Bangor Grammar School | Stephen Jackson | Joint 1st |
| Modular Mathematics | Regent House School, Newtownards | Isaac Johnston | Joint 1st |
| Motor Vehicle & Road User Studies | St Colman’s College, Newry | Jack McGowan | 1st |
| Moving Image Arts | Dalriada School, Ballymoney | Joel A Hunter | 1st |
| Music | Belfast Royal Academy | Stephen Doyle | 1st |
| Physical Education | Cookstown High School | Daniel Crooks | Joint 1st |
| Physical Education | Our Lady’s Grammar School, Newry | Sarah Armstrong | Joint 1st |
| Physical Education | Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt | Megan Mulholland | Joint 1st |
| Physics | St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt | Peter Maguire | 1st |
| Religious Studies | Methodist College Belfast | Saorse McClean | 1st |
| Religious Studies Short Course | Sullivan Upper School, Holywood | Victoria Coulter | Joint 1st |
| Religious Studies Short Course | Ballymena Academy | Ashlea Whann | Joint 1st |
| Science DA Modular | St Michael’s College, Enniskillen | Sean-Anthony Keaney | 1st |
| Science DA Non Modular | The Wallace High School, Lisburn | Jake Clements | 1st |
| Science SA Modular | St Colmcille’s High School, Crossgar | Yasmin El-Hertani | 1st |
| Spanish | Sullivan Upper School, Holywood | Marcos McBurney | 1st |
| Technology and Design | Campbell College, Belfast | Adam Robinson | 1st |
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.
