NI exam results to be released earlier in August

Pupils in Northern Ireland will get their AS, A-Level and GCSE results earlier in 2021.

Education Minister Peter Weir said pupils would receive AS and A-level results on 10 August and GCSE results on 12 August.

That echoes similar plans in England and Wales and is around a week and a half earlier than usual.

Results are to be provided earlier in August to allow pupils time to appeal grades they are unhappy with.

Summer exams have been cancelled for a second year in a row due to disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Weir had already said that schools in Northern Ireland would calculate GCSE, AS and A-Level grades to be awarded to their pupils in 2021.

Peter Weir said he hoped the move would provide clarity and parity for NI students

The NI exams board CCEA is to provide schools with tests pupils can sit in each subject to help with the process, but those are not compulsory.

Schools have to provide CCEA with grades in each subject for each of their pupils by the end of May.

CCEA will then review how schools award grades to "ensure fairness and consistency" but there will not be a return to the kind of statistical process which proved controversial in 2020.

How pupils in Northern Ireland will appeal results they are unhappy with has yet to be decided.

'Far from perfect'

No decision has yet been made either on whether AS results awarded in 2021 will count towards a pupil's A-Level grade in 2022.

In a statement, Mr Weir said it was important pupils in Northern Ireland got their results on the same day as those in England and Wales.

"Given the importance of A level results for admission to universities, it is important that CCEA, AS and A-Level results are aligned with those from other jurisdictions to ensure that Northern Ireland pupils are not disadvantaged," he said.

"I fully appreciate that issuing GCSE results in the same week as AS and A-Level results may provide challenges for both CCEA and for schools, but while far from perfect, I believe this decision will provide clarity and parity to all our students."