Thousands of Northern Ireland students are receiving the results of their GCSE exams.

Girls have continued to outperform boys in the examinations, according to the latest results out on Tuesday.

The percentage of entries gaining grades A*-C has risen by 1.4 percentage points to 68.4% this year.

The overall pass rate at all grades went from 97.3% to 97.7%.

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) said students had maintained the steady progress of recent years.

Exam results

A* 6.1% (6.2% in 2001) A*-A 21% (20.2% in 2001) A*-C 68.4% (67% in 2001) A*-G 97.7% (97.3% in 2001)

While the top line figure for A* grades had dropped by 0.1 point to 6.1%, "the overall picture is still one of improvement", said the council.

The figures identify the performance of students taking exams with all exam boards operating in Northern Ireland.

Those taking some of their exams with boards in England and Wales will receive their full set of results on Thursday.

The CCEA said that of the 202,713 entries, 73% of female candidates gained grades in the A*-C range, compared to 63.5% of males.

'Excellent performance'

The council said it was confident Northern Ireland pupils would maintain the performance gap over their peers in England and Wales when all of the results were in.

CCEA chief executive Gavin Boyd said: "Congratulations to the many thousands of young people receiving results today.

"They have carried on the tradition of excellent performance by our students in public examinations.

Gavin Boyd: "Excellent performance by students"

"I wish them all the best whatever they choose to do next."

The overall GCSE statistics for England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be released by the Joint Council for General Qualifications late on Wednesday, with students getting their individual results on Thursday.

Education Minister Martin McGuinness and Employment and Learning Minister Carmel Hanna welcomed the results.

Mr McGuinness said: "High standards have once again been achieved in this year's GCSE examination results, with over 68% of local candidates achieving A*-C grades, an increase of 1.4% on the previous year.

"This success must be attributed to the commitment of pupils and the guidance and support they have received from their teachers and parents.

"Pupils now have to choose whether to stay at school, go into further education and training or enter the world of employment."

Mrs Hanna said: "I would like to congratulate pupils on their achievements in GCSE. Once again an improved performance indicates the high level of effort being made by our pupils and teachers.

"Each pupil is now faced with an ever widening range of options. It is vitally important that informed choices are made about the next step."

Two grammar schools in County Down have criticised the Royal Mail after GCSE results were not delivered to about 60 of their students.

The pupils affected, from Our Lady's Grammar and St Colman's College in Newry, live in the Lurgan, Banbridge and Craigavon areas.

The schools say they gave Royal Mail the results on Monday for delivery on Tuesday morning.

In a statement, Royal Mail said it regretted that a small number of results failed to be processed in time for first delivery to students in parts of County Down and Armagh.

It said results had now been despatched to the delivery office and were in the process of being delivered to candidates.