More than 32,000 students in Northern Ireland received their GCSE and some vocational qualification results on Thursday, with 31.7% of entries achieving A* and A grades, up from 31.6% in 2025.

Pupils in Northern Ireland cannot access their results online and collected grades from their schools. Some BTEC results were also awarded on the same day.

The share of top grades was 30.5% in 2019, before the pandemic. Female students continued to outperform males: 36.2% of female entries achieved A or A, up from 36.1% last year, while the figure for males was 26.8%, down from 26.9%. The A to C pass rate also rose by 0.1 percentage points.

Education Minister Paul Givan, who visited Dromore High School, said the persistent gap between girls and boys at the top grade level concerns him, and he plans to examine why it continues. He noted the gap is nearly 10 percentage points. He also said Northern Ireland outperforms England and Wales in top grades.

In English language, 25.4% of entries achieved a top A grade, up from 25.1% in 2025. In mathematics, the figure was 27.1%, unchanged from last year.

CCEA chief executive Gerry Campbell congratulated students and thanked teachers, school leaders, examiners, and moderators. EA Chairperson Mervyn Storey and CSU Programme Director Paul Close visited Magherafelt High School, where they acknowledged the support of families and school staff, and encouraged students who missed their target grades to consider further education, training, apprenticeships, or employment.

Almost 97% of GCSEs in Northern Ireland are taken through CCEA. Some pupils receive numerical grades from 9 to 1 through English and Welsh boards alongside the A-G grades used locally. Minister Givan recently decided to keep the A-G structure. Most GCSEs will become linear with two terminal exams, reducing coursework, and some subjects will have fewer topics. CCEA will stop offering several GCSEs, including German and Economics, from the end of the decade.

The most popular GCSE subjects in 2025 were English Language and Mathematics, which are compulsory. Other high-entry subjects included Further Maths, Art and Design, Business Studies, English Literature, Double Award Science, Religious Studies, Geography, and History.

CCEA runs a results helpline until 26 August on 028 9026 1260 or via helpline@ccea.org.uk. The Department for the Economy's careers service is available on 0300 200 7820 or online.