The way students are examined in Northern Ireland is set for a major overhaul.
Currently, AS-levels in each subject have to be taken halfway through the A-level course and count for 40% of the final grade.
Under new plans, they will be scrapped and replaced with a new two-year modular A-level, with three separate topics or sets of exams.
While the AS name will go, pupils will still have the option of sitting some tests at the end of Year 13, but the changes will not be fully introduced until September 2029.
Most GCSEs will also be examined at the end of the two-year course, with a maximum of two exam papers in most subjects.
In England, AS-level results have not counted towards A-level grades since 2017.
Pupils in Wales still sit AS level exams which count towards their final A-level grade, but a review is under way, while an entirely different system exists in Scotland.
Pupils in Northern Ireland, though, will be able to continue to take qualifications set by English and Welsh exam boards including AS-levels.
Education Minister Paul Givan said that the changes would cut the number of exams and give pupils more time to explore, understand, and enjoy learning.
All of the changes apply to qualifications run by the Northern Ireland exams board, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).
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