Mathematics now the most popular A level in Northern Ireland
The subject is now the most popular A level accounting for 1 in 10 of all Northern Ireland A level entries.
Entries in Mathematics rose by 8.6%.
Overall A Level entries rose by 2.5% from 31,600 in 2014 to 32,390 this year.
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Hide AdParticipation in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) remains strong.
Along with Mathematics there were increases in numbers taking Design and Technology, up 8.8%, and ICT, up by 4.5%. Of particular interest is an
increase this year in the number of females taking A levels in STEM subjects, with increases in Biology (+5.7%), Chemistry (+3.3%), Physics (+2.1%), Mathematics (+10.6%) and Design and Technology (+24.5%).
Entries in Modern Languages are broadly stable.
Students continue to perform strongly at A level, with the overall A* - E pass rate rising slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 98.2%. There was also a small increase in those awarded the top grade, with 7.6% of entries receiving an A*, up 0.3 percentage points on last year.
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Hide AdThe percentage of entries achieving A* - A fell slightly to 29.3%, down by 0.6 percentage points.
While females still account for the majority of A*s awarded (7.8%), this year the percentage of males achieving the highest grade rose by 0.6 percentage points to 7.4%.