SCHOOL pupils are to be offered a new GCSE in statistics - part of the north's exams board's growing portfolio of `stem' qualifications.
GCSE Statistics is a new qualification which draws on real-life scenarios set in a Northern Ireland context, engaging learners and leading them into a variety of career pathways.
It has been developed by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in partnership with employers, including Ipsos MORI and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and further and higher education institutions.
The qualification is available for first teaching in September 2017.
Ipsos MORI director Fiona Rooney said the subject would be an excellent introduction to "the very topical big data" and how large quantities of data are used and analysed to reveal trends.
"It will capture the interest and imagination of learners and give them an insight into the importance of statistics in the real world," she added.
CCEA chief executive Justin Edwards said the new GCSE was a "relevant addition to CCEA's growing portfolio of stem qualifications".
"It enables learners to develop a set of transferable skills that will be of benefit in other GCSE subjects and further study," he said.
"It also supports the transition to the revised A-level in mathematics that, for the first time, has a compulsory statistics section."
