Northern Ireland
Educational attainment at age 16
Key points
- In 2006/07, 4% of school leavers obtained no GCSEs, 7% obtained some but fewer than five GCSEs and a further 24% obtained five or more GCSEs but fewer than five at grade C or above.
- These three groups together make up all those who fail to achieve at least five A to C GCSEs. As a whole, this headline measure has come down, from 46% in 1996/97 to 35% in 2006/07. Furthermore, the proportion who fail to achieve the lower threshold of at least five GCSEs of any grade has also come down, from 17% in 1996/97 to 11% in 2006/07.
- Among pupils entitled to free schools meals, the proportion of school leavers who have fewer than five GCSEs appears to have fallen sharply in recent years, from 31% in 2004/05 to 24% in 2006/07. This proportion is, however, still twice that for school leavers on average.
Graph 1: Over time
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Graph 2: By free school meals
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the proportion of school leavers failing to obtain five or more GCSEs at grade C or above. The data is split between those who obtain no GCSE grades at all (either because they do not enter for exams or achieve no passes), those who do obtain some GCSEs but less than five, and those who obtain 5 or more GCSEs but less than 5 at grade C or above.
The second graph shows the proportion of school leavers failing to obtain 5 or more GCSEs of any grade, with the data shown separately for pupils entitled to free school meals and for pupils in total. Since entitlement to free school meals is essentially restricted to families in receipt of out-of-work benefits, this should be thought of as a proxy for worklessness rather than low income.
The data source for both graphs is the Northern Ireland School Leavers Survey, with the data up to 2003/04 obtained via the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister's report entitled Update of indicators of social need for Northern Ireland 2005. Note that data is not available for 2002/03 and the figures in the graphs are the average for the previous and following year.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. While the data itself is sound enough, the choice of the particular levels of exam success is a matter of judgement.