GCSE pupils in NI on free school meals do half as well
GCSE pupils on free school meals do half as well as their counterparts, the Department of Education has found.
Just over a third achieved five or more GCSE grades A* to C, including English and maths, compared with 66.7% of those not entitled to free school meals.
Of the 22,580 pupils in year 12, 3,983 of them were on free school meals, an indicator of disadvantage.
It was the first time the Department of Education collected this information for its annual statistical summary.
Overall, 60.9% of year 12 pupils achieved at least five GCSEs grades A* to C, including English and maths, in 2012/13.
Other findings include:
- 79.6% of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C, an increase of 1.8% on the previous year; 62.6% of year 12 pupils on free school meals achieved this
- Girls performed 9% better than boys: 65.4% of female pupils in year 12 achieved at least five GCSEs including English and maths at A*-C compared with 56.4% of males
- In A-levels, 98.1% of pupils in the final year of their course achieved two or more at grades A*-E; 95.4% of pupils on free school meals achieved this
- 65.2% of year 14 pupils achieved three or more A-levels (including equivalents) at grades A*-C; 50.9% of pupils on free school meals achieved these grades.