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Students to get all GCSE results More students get top GCSE marks
(about 6 hours later)
Students awaiting their GCSE grades are, in a break with tradition, receiving their results from all examination boards on the same day. Northern Ireland's GCSE results show a 1.5% increase in the amount of students getting A or A* grades.
The number attaining A to C grades is up by just over 2%. More than a quarter achieved A or A* and almost all who entered passed their exams.
In a break with tradition, students receiving their results from all examination boards on Thursday.
In the past, the local board, the CCEA, had its results ready by Tuesday of this week.In the past, the local board, the CCEA, had its results ready by Tuesday of this week.
However, students then had to wait another two days for results from the English and Welsh boards. Students then had to wait another two days for results from the English and Welsh boards.
Now, all results will be revealed on Thursday, enabling students to make immediate decisions about their future. The results show students in Northern Ireland are again doing better that those in England and Wales in the higher grades - they are 2% ahead in A* and 5% ahead in A-star to C.
Colleges and schools now compete to recruit pupils, but those who want to do apprenticeships in the construction industry are likely to have trouble finding an employer willing to take them on. There has been a big rise in those doing single single sciences with biology entries up by 73% and chemistry by 40%.
Jobs in the industry are expected to be limited due to the scaling-down of new building projects. In languages the numbers doing Irish and French have both fallen.
The overall number doing both A-level and GCSEs has dropped, probably due to a fall in population numbers in that age group.