In the week in which CCEA wrote to schools confirming that all Northern Ireland (NI) schools will continue with legacy GCSEs¹ graded A* to G, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has pledged to bring in reformed GCSEs following the NI Assembly elections in May. 

The DUP proposals would change the GCSE grading system in NI to ensure it is compatible with England, arguing that this means that NI students would not be disadvantaged when applying for jobs or university places.

Earlier this year OCR and AQA announced a decision not to offer separate, legacy GCSEs in NI following the devolved Government’s move not to adopt the new, reformed GCSE grading system.


¹ In its letter to schools, CCEA announced that NI schools will be permitted to offer Computer Science GCSE graded 9-1 for first teaching in 2016, but only for one year until alternative qualifications become available.