Students in the North today stretched their lead over GCSE students in Britain with record results in the state examination.
The final figures to be published showed a steady improvement across all subjects and confirmed that students in the province continue to outperform students who sit the exams in England and Wales.
The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) said 7.5 per cent of entries locally achieved the top A* grade - up 0.4 per cent on 2004 - compared to 5.9 per cent in Britain.
At A to C, 71 per cent of entries in the North made the grade, as opposed to 61.2 per cent overall.
Most of the GCSE results for Northern Ireland were published on Tuesday, but the vast majority of pupils in the province sit at least one or two exams set by the English and Welsh boards - and some many more.