Just days before the results are published on Thursday, Peter Weir has scrapped a plan that would have had grades calculated using a mathematical model that took into account the past performance of schools.
CCEA accounts for 97% of all GCSEs taken in the region. Students who were due to sit GCSEs set by awarding bodies in England or Wales will still be graded according to the approach taken by those organisations. Instead it used data related to the performance of previous GCSE classes in the schools the pupils attended.
"However, these are exceptional circumstances and in exceptional times truly difficult decisions are made. "I have, therefore, acted now in advance of the publication of GCSE results to ease anxieties, reassure young people and their families and ensure that every individual candidate receives a grade that recognises the work they have done."