A Level celebrations at Lisburn schools

Chris Acheson celebrates getting two A's and a B at Wallace High School. US1533-524cd Picture: Cliff Donaldson

There were celebrations in local schools on Thursday morning as pupils received their eagerly awaited exam results.

And, on the whole, the news was good for most A-Level students at Lisburn’s main schools.

Students in Upper Sixth in Wallace are celebrating very pleasing A Level and AS results this year. At A Level 90% of the grades were at A*, A , B and C.

Meanwhile, at the South Eastern Regional College (SERC) students collected their Level 3 BTEC results and the College celebrated another year of superb results with 157 students achieving the equivalent of 3 A grades or higher at A level.

Students from SERC have been celebrating this record success following the completion of their Level 3 BTEC qualification, where 61 students had extra reason to celebrate by achieving the equivalent to 3A* grades.

The Joint Council for Qualifications, the umbrella body for exams in the UK, has said that the A-level pass rate rose very slightly this year for students in Northern Ireland.

Those attaining results ranging from an A* to and E in their A levels rose by 0.1 percentage points to 98.2 per cent.

There was also a small increase of 0.3 per cent in those awarded the top grade, with 7.6 per cent of entries receiving an A*.

The percentage of entries achieving A* - A fell by 0.6 per cent to 29.3 per cent.

Education Minister John O’Dowd said in a statement: “After their years of hard work, I am delighted to congratulate the thousands of young people on their achievements today, and of course their parents and teachers.

“Our young people have performed well and I wish them well in their next step.

“For other young people, today’s results will not be what they had hoped and I would encourage them not to be disheartened.

“The pathways through study and training to employment are not the same for everyone, and help and advice is available. Teachers, careers advisers and parents can offer good advice and support on the options available to you.”

To visit the Careers Service website see www.nidirect.gov.uk/results, or call 0300 200 7820 to speak directly to a careers adviser.