Top grades have been awarded in nearly a third of all A-levels in Northern Ireland where students again outperformed the rest of the UK, according to results issued yesterday.
Although the overall pass rate rose by just 0.2 per cent to 97.7 per cent, there was a bigger increase at the top end of the scale. A grades were given to 32.4 per cent of entries, up 1.2 per cent on last year. In England and Wales the equivalent figures were 96.6 per cent and 24.1 per cent.
With Northern Ireland's boys closing the performance gap on girls, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment put the improved top grade showing down to particular excellence in key subject areas.
Director of operations Neil 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. These areas make up nine of the top 10 performing subjects at the A grade. "Strong showings in subjects such as mathematics, biology and physics have contributed greatly to the top line figures we are seeing today."
Although girls continued to do better, this year's results show that boys are catching up and outperforming them at A grade in biology, economics, English, Irish, further maths and technology. Overall, the pass rate gender difference closed to just 0.4 per cent. But girls did stretch their lead at the top A grade to 3.9 per cent. Overall, 94.7 per cent achieved A to E grades, up 0.1 per cent on last year.