NI education: Some GCSE and A-level subjects to be scrapped

Changes to GCSEs and A-levels will mean several qualifications in subjects including Economics, German and Engineering are to be scrapped.

The Northern Ireland exams board, CCEA, said the subjects will not be offered by it from the end of the decade.

Other qualifications to be withdrawn include GCSEs in Leisure Travel and Tourism, Learning for Life and Work and Contemporary Crafts, and the A-level in Professional Business Services.

CCEA said it had made the “difficult decision” on factors such as “candidate entry patterns and the long-term sustainability of these subjects”.

CCEA told BBC News NI that final courses in the GCSE subjects would begin in schools in 2028 with final awarding of qualifications in 2030.

Final courses in the A-levels would begin in 2029 with final awarding of qualifications in 2031.

“As with all changes to our qualifications offer, we are engaging directly with schools and colleges to ensure they have sufficient notice and are supported through the transition,” a CCEA spokesperson said.

They added that alternative qualifications are available from other awarding bodies.

That means that if a school wants to continue offering the subjects to pupils, it will have to teach and offer them through English or Welsh exam boards.

Many of the subjects being withdrawn by CCEA had relatively small numbers of entrants.

For instance, 369 students took the A-level in Professional Business Services in 2026, while 206 took the GCSE in Engineering and Manufacturing in 2025.

However, 587 students took GCSE German in 2025 but only 49 took it at A-level.