John Trueman, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Northern Ireland, comments on the publication of this year’s GCSE and vocational qualification results in Northern Ireland.
“Congratulations to all students who have received results today. These results represent two years of hard work on the part of the young people, all of whom will have been impacted by Covid in one way or another. We must also acknowledge the incredible work of our teachers, support staff and school leaders who have regularly gone above and beyond to get the young people to this point.
“The 2024 summer series went according to plan in Northern Ireland and CCEA is to be commended for the successful delivery of results. This in the context of a return to pre-pandemic standards, reflected in the grade outcomes which are lower than 2023 and comparable to 2019. What this means is that results in Northern Ireland, Wales and England are now broadly similar, ensuring comparability across the three jurisdictions.
“Students receiving their results today will move forward onto a range of courses. While some will progress to AS and A-levels, there will also be many choosing to study BTECs and other applied general qualifications in schools and FE colleges. There are also numerous apprenticeships available for school leavers in Northern Ireland. Whatever their next steps, we wish all of our students well for the future.
“Looking further to the future, there is much work to be done in relation to GCSE Specification. As it stands, many are content-heavy and place an undue assessment burden on students. We support the recommendations of the Independent Review of Education for a full revision of the GCSE specifications and a greater focus on the vocational offering in Northern Ireland.”