Students from fee-charging schools are significantly more likely to go on to study high points college courses, new data shows.
As reported in The Irish Times, schools in disadvantaged areas, or Deis schools, have also preformed strongly with high numbers of students attending third level education.
The new data, from the Irish Times Feeder Schools supplement, shows almost all Leaving Cert students (99.7 per cent) in fee-charging schools progressed to third-level institutions in 2021, up 1 per cent on the previous year.
Meanwhile, non-fee-charging schools saw 80 per cent of students progress on to college. However, this figure was down three per cent on the previous year.
More than half of Leaving Cert students from Deis schools (62 per cent) went on to study in higher education. This was also down slightly by 2 per cent on the previous year but up 5 per cent on 2019 figures.
The figures suggest that 2021 Leaving Cert students having a choice of predicted grades and written exams proportionately benefited more students in fee-charging schools compared with 2020s calculated grades model.
When looking at high points courses, fee-charging schools had 87 per cent of students securing places on such programmes compared to 52 per cent in non-fee-charging schools and 33 per cent in Deis schools.
The Irish Times Feeder Schools data also shows evidence of a “class gap” in the proportion of students going on to college in different parts of the city.
Third level progression rates were much higher in affluent areas such as Dublin 6 (104 per cent), Dublin 14 (96 per cent), Dublin 2, 3, 4 (all 90 per cent).
This compares to significantly lower levels of progression in less affluent areas such as Dublin 11 (54 per cent), Dublin 10 (55 per cent) and Dublin 1 and 22 (both 57 per cent).
Overall, the schools which sent the most students to third-level were: Christian Brothers College, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin; Salerno Secondary School, Salthill, Galway; Loreto Abbey, Dalkey, Co Dublin; Coláiste Muire, Ennis, Co Clare; Coláiste Íde, Dingle, Co Kerry; Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, Tralee, Co Kerry; St Mary’s Secondary School, Macroom, Co Cork; The Teresian School, Dublin 4; St Gerard’s School, Bray, Co Wicklow; and Loreto College, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.
