 Students received examination results earlier this week |
As students get their full GCSE results, it has emerged that once again Northern Ireland pupils are performing better than those in England and Wales. Almost a quarter in Northern Ireland got A or A-star grades compared to a fifth elsewhere.
However, the gap appears to be closing between the regions.
The local exams body, the CCEA, said there had been a drop in the number sitting traditional GCSEs, partly due to falling pupil numbers.
A swing to other more practical exams has also contributed to the fall.
The most popular exams are English, maths and the sciences, but there has been a large fall in the numbers wanting to study geography and French.
 |  Of particular note is that our pupils outperform their English and Welsh peers in key areas such as English, Mathematics and the sciences |
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said the results showed "Northern Ireland has the talent needed to succeed on the global stage".
"I am determined that all pupils and teachers get the support they need to continue achieving well, and I want to ensure that no child going through Northern Ireland's education system is under-achieving," he said.
'Traditional GCSEs'
The percentage of entries gaining an A* or A grade has risen by 0.3% to 24.3%. The equivalent national figure is 19.1%.
Entries gaining grades A* to C rose slightly, from 71% to 71.7%. The national equivalent stands at 62.4%.
This year, the Northern Ireland GCSE entry fell from 198,891 to 195,530, a drop of 3,361 (1.7%).
About 30% of GCSEs sat in Northern Ireland are taken with English or Welsh examination boards.
On Tuesday, about 25,000 students who sat papers with the NI examination board, CCEA, received their results.
The council's Neil Anderson said it had been "a very sound performance from our GCSE students".
"They can be very proud. Of particular note is that our pupils outperform their English and Welsh peers in key areas such as English, mathematics and the sciences," he said.
"Whilst we have seen a drop in the numbers taking traditional GCSEs, there has been a rise of almost 2,500 in numbers taking the new Applied GCSE courses."
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