57% leave with2 or 3 A-Levels

Only in Castlereagh, North Down, Omagh, Magherafelt and Fermanagh did a higher proportion of school leavers leave with equivalent grades.

Londonderry school leavers performed less well in terms of the amount of GCSE grades achieved.

Although 71.4 per cent of school leavers (1,119) here achieved at least five GCSEs only eight other council areas had a lower proportion.

These were Limavady, Strabane, Larne, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Craigavon, Banbridge and Belfast.

The figures were obtained from from the 2009/10 School Leavers Survey which details the qualifications and destinations of school leavers by gender, school type and religion of pupil.

Across Northern Ireland girls continue to outperform boys at A-Level (60.9 per cent versus 45 per cent achieving two or more A-Levels) and GCSE (78.3 per cent versus 65.4 per cent achieving 5 or more GCSEs) and Catholics continue to outperform Protestants at A-Level (56.4 per cent versus 49.2 per cent acieving two or more A-Levels) and GCSE (59.3 per cent versus 58.8 per cent achieving 5 or more GCSEs).