A level results day: Biology is now the favourite subject across Northern Ireland

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has published the 2023 Northern Ireland results for A and AS levels – the second time students have undertaken summer exams marked and graded by exam boards since 2019.

The provisional figures show that 37.5 per cent of students received a grade A or above, which reflect the continued return to pre-pandemic grading. The results are higher than pre-pandemic years, but lower than 2022.

At A level, the total number of exam entries in Northern Ireland has increased by 1.3 per cent to 32,925 from 32,506 in 2022, which is in line with school age population.

The provisional A level results in Northern Ireland show that 98.8 per cent of students achieved A*-E grade. 37.5 per cent of entries achieved A* - A grades, and 11.6 per cent achieved a grade A*.

Biology has replaced Mathematics as the subject with the most entries, accounting for just under one in 10 entries. More than a third of A level entries in Northern Ireland continue to be in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

AS level entries saw an increase of 11.3 per cent from 35,328 in 2022 to 39,336. In provisional AS outcomes, 33.5 per cent of students achieved grade A, with 97.5 per cent achieving A-E grade.

Commenting on this summer’s AS and A level results, Gerry Campbell, Chief Executive of CCEA said: “My congratulations to the thousands of students across Northern Ireland who received their results today. These young people are to be praised and admired for the resilience and hard work they have demonstrated throughout their studies.

"I would also like to thank and pay tribute to Northern Ireland’s school leaders, teachers and lecturers for the support, guidance and dedication that they provided for their students over the last year. In addition, I want to recognise the valuable and important work that examiners and moderators have carried out this year to enable students to get their results.

"On behalf of everyone at CCEA, I wish all students the very best for the next steps in their journey.”