Debate contribution: CCEA GCSEs, AS Levels and A Levels

Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on 3 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Paul Givan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

3 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statements

Heading

CCEA GCSEs, AS Levels and A Levels

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5434456

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I listened to the feedback in the consultation, and I outlined in the statement how that has been incorporated. We have retained the grading structure of A, B, C, D and so on, rather than moving to the 1 to 9; that came back in the consultation, and I listened to that. We have not adopted what England has, which is a totally linear process across all its subjects at GCSE and A level. I have identified key GCSEs that will retain modularity. I am introducing new A levels on the basis of having a modular approach. The feedback from young people included a concern that, at the end of year 14, everything would rest on a high-stakes exam. I have listened to that. I have got rid of the old and outdated AS brand, which is detrimental to learning outcomes, and replaced it with a modern, fit-for-purpose approach that can be linear and modular, providing choice to the pupils who want to do it. The Member referred to testing. What he is advocating is retaining the status quo, in which young people at the age of 14 or 15 in year 11 sit exams, have resits, sit them again in year 12, sit more exams in year 13, and then have more resits and sit more exams in year 14.

That factory line of testing is contributing to anxiety and stress and is affecting the mental well-being of our young people. I have listened to our young people: they want change. I am delivering change that will not only provide better academic outcomes right across the spectrum for people based on their educational attainment levels but reduce anxiety, stress and teacher workload, which is an issue that teachers repeatedly speak about.

The Member referred to the Republic of Ireland. We will wait to see what changes the Republic of Ireland makes in the future. However, the current approach in the Republic of Ireland is a totally linear one. Again, I have rejected that position and delivered a bespoke process for Northern Ireland that is built in Northern Ireland and will benefit our young people.

An AS level currently contributes 40% to the final mark for an A level. Under a modular approach to A levels, a unit that is completed in year 13 will have a 30% weighting, so the difference is marginal. However, there is a fundamentally important difference. Some schools put out young people in year 13 for two weeks to revise and for one week to sit their mocks in January. That is three weeks during which they are not in the classroom in front of a teacher. They then sit their AS levels in May, having already left school to go on study leave. Some children are, therefore, losing eight to 10 weeks of teaching time. How does putting young people out of school help those who struggle educationally, those who need to have the expert teaching in the classroom and those with additional needs? I have retained the modular option and the ability to bank a unit but in a way that will provide those young people with much greater exposure to expert teaching in the classroom from their teachers.

The consultation solicited around 8,000 responses. After going through and considering the responses, the Department engaged in three regional conferences that were attended by significant numbers of school leadership teams and principals from across our post-primary schools. We went through all those issues. The feedback on AS levels was that it is not that people want to retain the AS brand; it is that they want to retain the ability to bank a unit of that qualification at the end of year 13. The process that I am following rejects the approaches in England and the Republic of Ireland — the Leaving Cert is a totally linear position — and provides an opportunity to bank a unit on completion of year 13, but I am doing that in a way that gets rid of an obsolete qualification that only Northern Ireland and Wales have. Wales's international performance is not something that we should seek to emulate. I seek to emulate the Republic of Ireland's performance at an international level. We should not be one of only two outliers that have retained the flawed AS qualification. The underpinning issue that was presented — I get it; I heard from young people — was the concern that everything would ride on the very last set of exams in year 14. I have landed in a way that, I believe, delivers a bespoke solution for Northern Ireland that will accommodate young people who still want to complete a unit at the end of year 13.

CCEA is the predominant awarding body in Northern Ireland. I think that 98% of qualifications here are awarded by it. When we make the changes, qualifications will align with our curriculum. CCEA qualifications will align with the curriculum that we will be publishing in draft format for consultation in the coming weeks and that will then be delivered in our schools. I can therefore see no reason why a school would want to do an examination from a different awarding body if that examination were not to align with our curriculum. The vocational qualifications that are available in schools are not part of the process. They will continue to be offered in schools.

I am listening to young people. Perhaps Members have not listened to what is being said about the extreme levels of anxiety that exist as a result of the current system: the status quo. People are saying that those who do not want to see that change made want to retain the status quo. The status quo is a testing factory for our young people. For four years, we put young people through repeated examinations. Evidence shows that only 7% of those who resit AS levels improve their A-level grades at the end of the process. Do the maths. That means that the A-level outcome for 93% of the young people who resit AS levels is not improved. Why would we therefore put our young people through that kind of process? What does it do to the self-esteem and mental well-being of pupils in year 11 who are being entered for exams, in which they are competing against children who are a year older and who have had an extra year of teaching, and are then not passing those exams? How does that help the mental health of young people who, having failed them, repeat AS levels, only for no difference to be made to the outcome? In fact, doing that is detrimental to their A-level outcome, because when they need to be focused on their A2 tests, which make up 60% of an A level, they are distracted by having to resit the 40% component part. As I said, 93% of young people will not see an improvement. That is not the kind of education system that is of benefit to young people. The Member raised a point about universities. I will join Sinn Féin, as I did when I met the Minister for the Economy, in campaigning for the South to remove its partitionist agenda for accessing its universities. Why are universities in the Republic of Ireland incapable of accepting what the Oxbridge universities, the Russell Group universities and other universities across the United Kingdom, including those in Northern Ireland, accept for their top applicants? When it comes to that issue, we should therefore not comply with the discriminatory policy towards Northern Ireland students, which has been institutionalised by the Republic of Ireland. We should instead take on the discrimination in the South by helping abolish the partitionist agenda. I will work with Sinn Féin to get rid of the discriminatory practices that, I agree, are prejudicial to our young people in Northern Ireland, but that is not a justification for retaining an inhumane, ineffective qualification system in Northern Ireland.

1,333 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:01 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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