CCEA — the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment — is Northern Ireland's indigenous awarding body. It's a non-departmental public body of the NI Department of Education, with a regulatory arm (CCEA Regulation) that's structurally separate from the awarding side. CCEA writes the NI curriculum, sets and grades GCSEs and A-levels for NI students, and also offers some specs to schools in England.

Do English schools use CCEA?

A small number do. CCEA's qualifications are Ofqual-recognised in England, so English schools can offer them, though the volumes are tiny compared to AQA, Edexcel, and OCR. Where it happens, it's usually for a specific subject niche — Moving Image Arts, Engineering, Home Economics — or because a school has historic ties to the spec.

How does NI GCSE differ from English GCSE?

Northern Ireland kept the A*–G grading system longer than England (which switched to 9–1 in 2017), but NI moved to a hybrid grading scale (A*, A, B, C*, C, D, E, F, G) for most subjects. Content is broadly comparable — Ofqual and CCEA Regulation coordinate to keep standards aligned — but specifications, set texts, and assessment objectives are CCEA's own. AS/A2 split assessment (modular) is also retained in NI longer than in England.

What's CCEA's GCSE Irish like?

CCEA is the main UK board for GCSE Irish, alongside the Welsh-medium parallel at WJEC for Welsh. The spec covers reading, writing, listening, and speaking with Irish-language texts and cultural content. For schools in NI offering Irish-medium education or Irish as a curriculum subject, CCEA is the default.

Where do I find CCEA past papers?

All on ccea.org.uk under each subject's resources page. Past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports, and full specifications are free. The site is well-organised by subject and qualification level (GCSE, AS, A2).

CCEA Exam Board Explained · GCSE / AS / A2

What CCEA is

CCEA — the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment — is the awarding body for Northern Ireland and a non-departmental public body of the NI Department of Education. It has two structurally separate arms: the awarding body (which writes specs, sets papers, and awards grades) and CCEA Regulation (which regulates qualifications offered in NI, equivalent to Ofqual's role in England).

Most NI schools sit CCEA GCSEs and A-levels for most subjects. Some NI schools mix in English boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR) for specific subjects. A small number of English schools offer CCEA qualifications too — they're Ofqual-recognised — though the volumes are tiny compared to the three big English boards.

How NI qualifications differ

GCSE grading

England moved GCSEs to a 9-1 numerical scale in 2017. Northern Ireland kept letter grades but moved to a hybrid scale (A*, A, B, C*, C, D, E, F, G) — adding a C* grade between the old A and C to maintain finer distinctions in the upper-middle range. NI grades are recognised across the UK; universities and employers handle the mapping.

AS / A2 modular structure

England moved A-levels to fully linear assessment (everything examined at the end of Year 13) in 2015-2017. Northern Ireland retained the modular AS / A2 structure — AS in Year 12 contributes 40% of the final A-level grade, A2 in Year 13 contributes 60%. This matters for exam strategy: NI students sit consequential exams in both years.

Subjects CCEA specialises in

Irish (and Gaeilge)

CCEA is the main UK provider for GCSE and A-level Irish. The qualifications cover reading, writing, listening, and speaking with Irish-language literary and cultural content. NI's Irish-medium schools (gaelscoileanna) use CCEA across the curriculum; English-medium schools offering Irish as a subject also use CCEA.

Religious Education / Religious Studies

Religious Education is a statutory subject in NI under the NI Department of Education's core syllabus. CCEA's GCSE Religious Studies spec is the dominant choice in NI schools, covering Christianity primarily and engaging with ethical and philosophical questions.

Home Economics / Food & Nutrition

CCEA Home Economics is well-established across NI schools and used by a small number of English schools too. The spec covers food science, nutrition, consumer awareness, and practical skills with controlled-assessment cooking components.

Moving Image Arts

A distinctive CCEA offering: GCSE and A-level Moving Image Arts cover film theory, cinematography, editing, and short-film production. Some English schools with film-specialist departments offer this.

Engineering

CCEA Engineering at GCSE is used in NI and a handful of English schools. Practical project-based assessment alongside written exams; covers mechanical, electronic, and structural content.

CCEA paper format conventions

Letter grading at GCSE (A*-G with C* added). At A-level, A*-E with the modular AS / A2 split.
Modular A-level structure with AS feeding into the A2 grade — high stakes attached to AS exams which most English boards no longer have.
Controlled assessment components in subjects like Home Economics, Art & Design, and Technology — coursework moderated externally by CCEA.

Past papers and resources

Everything is on ccea.org.uk: past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports, specifications, and sample assessment materials. The site organises resources by subject and by qualification level (GCSE, AS, A2). CCEA also publishes a "Chief Examiner's Report" for most subjects each series — the equivalent of AQA's examiner reports — which is the best place to see what high-mark answers look like and where students consistently lose marks.

Choosing a CCEA-specialist tutor

Are they currently teaching the CCEA spec, or have they taught it within the last 2-3 years?
For A-level, do they know how the AS / A2 split affects exam strategy and whether students should resit AS modules?
For text-heavy subjects (English, Religious Studies, History), are they familiar with the CCEA set texts and assessment objectives — which differ from the English boards?
For Irish, are they comfortable with the level your child is studying (some tutors specialise in conversational Irish but not the GCSE/A-level literary content)?

CCEA exam board explained