AQW 48485/22-27

Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 11/06/2026
Answered On Date: 23/06/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any reason why there is insufficient data to measure the school leavers attainment gap on the Programme for Government Wellbeing Framework.

Answer:

The phrase ‘there is insufficient data available to determine whether this indicator is improving or worsening’ is a standard line used in the Programme for Government Wellbeing Framework for indicators where PFG analysts are unable to report on change. This may be for a variety of reasons depending on the indicator.

In this case, while data is available for each school year, the footnotes to the relevant statistics explain that due to changes to the processes for awarding qualifications, in response to the pandemic, caution should be taken when drawing any conclusions relating to changes in student performance.

More information about the school leavers data is available at the following link: Qualifications and Destinations of Northern Ireland School Leavers