GCSE results: Fall in proportion of top grades awarded in NI
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Thousands of school pupils - including Ishka Leckey and Veronica Burke from Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle - have received their results
There has been a fall in the proportion of top GCSE grades awarded in Northern Ireland.
That was expected due to the return of summer exams for the first time since 2019.
Grades A* and A were awarded to about 37% of GCSE entries, compared with about 40% in 2021.
In 2019, the last year in which exams were held, under a third of all GCSEs in Northern Ireland were awarded A* or A.
Nine in every 10 GCSE entries in Northern Ireland were awarded grade C or above in 2022, up slightly on 2021.
Results in Northern Ireland are again higher than those in England and Wales, where just over a quarter of entries have received top grades.
Many pupils, like these boys from All Saints College, had to go to school to pick up their results
Some pupils also received results for BTec, vocational or entry level qualifications on Thursday.
However, the exam board Pearson has warned that some students will not get their results as expected.
It is still unclear if any students in Northern Ireland have been affected by the delay.
Girls continued to outperform boys in Northern Ireland in achieving the top grades in 2022.
About 42% of entries from girls in 2022 received A* or A grades compared with 32% of entries from boys.
About 3% of GCSE entries in Northern Ireland are made through English exam boards, which means some pupils received results in the form of numbers as well as letters.
That is because GCSEs in England are graded numerically from nine to one.
Northern Ireland's exams board CCEA has maintained the A* to G grading system.
While GCSE results and some statistics are released on Thursday, full details of how pupils performed this year will not be available for a few months.
Campbell College pupils Alex Meyer, left, and James McConnell, right, both achieved 11 A* or A grades
GCSE, AS and A-level and AS-level exams were cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic and pupils were awarded grades calculated by their schools instead.
That led to rises in the number of top grades awarded.
There have been a number of modifications to GCSEs in 2022 to take account of disruption - including months learning remotely - that pupils faced during the pandemic.
There were fewer exams in almost all GCSE subjects, with units or modules dropped from subjects too.
The exam boards also said grading would be more generous than in pre-pandemic years, including more lenient grade boundaries.
BBC Bitesize guides on GCSE results
Many pupils will be picking results up from their school - unlike A-levels - they cannot receive them online.
Speaking to BBC News NI on Thursday, Susan Wilson, principal of Castlederg High School in County Tyrone, said it was going to be a great day for pupils.
"Nobody can really underestimate the stress and the strain that the pupils and staff were under throughout this year," she said.
"The resilience of the pupils and the resilience of the staff were unbelievable."
Pupils use their GCSE results to progress to A-level, courses in further education, training or employment
Brigid Heron, head teacher at Sperrin Integrated College in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, said it was "a really historic day for us".
"It's our 20th anniversary year and our young people have achieved outcomes at a historic level, better than the centre determined grades that we had last year," she said.
"Across the board, every single subject area and every single pupil has really exceeded our expectations."
Brendan McGinn, principal of St Mary's College in Londonderry, said results at the school had been excellent.
"Their year 10 and 11 would have been severely disrupted," he said.
"Some pupils that came back had lost their confidence, lost their voice. That was largely down to the pupils finding it difficult in terms of their confidence, having taken a step back, during the lockdown".
Mr mcGinn said returning to the classroom had been challenging for pupils post pandemic
Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said young people deserved praise after the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"I think the way they have responded and have been able to get through is worthy of congratulation," he said.
"The second thing I would say is that if you've perhaps got an outcome that you weren't expected not to panic not to worry.
"There are so many options and opportunities there for you."
Pupils use their GCSE and BTec results to progress to A-level, courses in further education, training or employment.
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