Weir welcomes improvements in results for school leavers

Education Minister, Peter Weir, said it is clear that young people are working hard to achieve success following the publication of statistics on examination performance and destinations for school leavers.

Key findings from the statistical release Qualifications and Destinations of School Leavers 2014/2015, which was published today, include:

• The proportion of school leavers achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent has increased by 9.2 percent from 71.9% in 2009/10 to 81.1% in 2014/15.
• The proportion of free school meal entitled school leavers achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent including GCSE English and maths increased by 6.4 percentage points from 34.9% in 2013/14 to 41.3% in 2014/15.
• The proportion of school leavers achieving three or more A-levels A* - C or equivalent was 38.2% in 2014/15, an increase of 2.7 percentage points from 35.5% in 2009/10.

The Minister said:

“Today’s results demonstrate that our young people have been working hard to achieve success and I am very pleased to see their hard work is paying off. School leaders and teachers are clearly focussed on meeting their learning needs and ensuring that they attain the qualifications that will help them progress into further or higher education, training and employment.

“As well as congratulating our young people, I would also like to pay tribute to their teachers and school leaders for their hard work and dedication to encouraging and supporting young people throughout their time in education. At this time of year, when many young people are sitting examinations, family and the wider school community can offer invaluable support.”

Concluding the Minister said that the information released today will be very useful for him in his new role as Education Minister.

Peter Weir said:

“One of my key priorities as the Minister for Education will be to drive more ambitious improvement so that more of our young people achieve and progress. There are still some groups where the proportion achieving this academic threshold is still too low and significant gaps remain - between boys and girls, between our most and least deprived pupils and between Protestants and Catholics. We need to have ambitious targets for these pupils and offer them support to achieve their full potential.

“Our young people have the capacity to achieve - over four fifths of our school leavers achieved at least 5 GCSE A*-C or equivalent but when we include GCSEs in English and maths the proportion achieving this measure drops to two thirds.  Ensuring that more are leaving with English and maths remains a challenge and, given the central importance of those skills, it is one I aim to address.”

Notes to editors: 

1. Media enquiries to the Department of Education Press Office Tel: 028 9127 9207. Out of office hours, contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 99 715 440, and your call will be returned.

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