Year 12 and 14 examination performance 2014/15 is published

The Department of Education today published Statistical Bulletin 9/2015 which provides an analysis of examination performance of pupils in Year 12 and 14 at post-primary schools in Northern Ireland for the 2014/15 academic year.

The data in this statistical bulletin are taken from the Summary of Annual Examination Results (SAER) process, which collates summary school level examinations data and validates it with schools. The 2014/15 figures in this statistical release are based on information as at 4 December 2015.
Since 2012/13 summary data on pupils with free school meal entitlement (FSME) have been collected and validated; this statistical bulletin provides summarised examination performance analysis on the percentage of all pupils and FSME pupils achieving a range of benchmarks.

Key findings:

· In 2014/15, 67.0% of year 12 pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C (or equivalent) including GCSE English and GCSE maths, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from 65.2% in 2013/14.
· This increase coincides with the continuation of a range of DE programmes specifically targeting the literacy and numeracy of young people in those schools serving our most disadvantaged pupils.
· The proportion of free school meal entitled year 12 pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C (or equivalent) including GCSE English and GCSE maths increased by 6.9 percentage points to 45.6% (38.7% in 2013/14). This compares with a 3.5 percentage point increase for non free school meal entitled pupils to 74.3% (70.8% in 2013/14).
· This increase in achievement of FSME pupils coincides with the increase in the proportion of pupils in post-primary schools eligible for free schools meals under the working tax credit free school meal criterion, which was extended to post-primary schools from September 2014.
· The proportion of non-grammar school year 12 pupils achieving this indicator (5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C (or equivalent) including GCSE English and GCSE maths) increased by 2.8 percentage points to 46.8% (44.0% 2013/14) compared with a 0.5 percentage point increase in grammar schools to 95.0% (94.5% in 2013/14).
· In 2014/15, 64.9% of pupils in the final year of an A-level (or equivalent) course achieved 3 or more A-levels at grades A*-C. This figure compares with 65.0% in 2013/14.

The full statistical bulletin can be accessed using the link below

• Statistical Bulletin 9/2015

Notes to editors: 

Media enquiries to the Department of Education’s Communications Team on Tel: 028 9127 9207. Out of office hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699715440 and your call will be returned.

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