Don’t have time for all the details? Here’s the short summary

These tables are flawed and imperfect. We know that. But, despite the lengthy list of caveats published here today, they do give a healthy snapshot of how many students, from which schools, are progressing to third-level education.

What are these tables, and how should they be read?

In short, they show how many students, from each school in the Republic of Ireland, went to which colleges on the island of Ireland this year.

If more than ten students sat their Leaving Certificate in a school in 2014, and any of them went on to one of the 33 publicly-funded third-level institutions in the Republic of Ireland, or to the University of Ulster or Queen’s University Belfast, it’s recorded here.

The list also includes students who sat their Leaving Cert in any of the schools listed here in previous years, but deferred an offer or repeated.

For now at least, it’s the only information parents can get about how many students from a given school go to college. This is because, as it stands, the CAO, which handles college admissions, is a private company which doesn’t make available the level of information which could make the tables more accurate, while the Department of Education and Skills resolutely will not release comparative details of schools.

There’s a lot that this information doesn’t tell us about post-primary schools: how many of their students are progressing on to PLC courses; how many are studying overseas; how many of them sat the Leaving Cert this year compared to previous years; or, as many teachers will point out, all the great extracurricular activities, pastoral care, and holistic education provided by schools across Ireland.

This is the 12th year of the tables, which were started by former education editor the late Sean Flynn in a bid to fill an information void for parents.

How do I read this list?

For example, let’s say you want to see how the schools in Co. Offaly, or Dublin 6, have fared in sending students to college.

1.

Go to the section for Offaly or Dublin 6.

2.

“Number who sat Leaving Cert 2014”: This column tells you the total number of students from each school who sat the Leaving Cert in 2014, from every school in that area, based on figures provided by the State Examinations Commission.

3.

“Total number (all years)”: This column tells you the total number of students from that school who sat their Leaving Cert in that school in either 2014 or previous years (or who repeated the Leaving Cert in another school), and started full-time undergraduate studies in a publicly-funded third-level institution on the island of Ireland.

4.

“Total percentage progression (all years)”: The percentage of students from each school who sat the Leaving Cert in previous years, plus those who sat it in previous years and either deferred making a CAO application until 2014 or repeated in another institution, and started full-time undergraduate studies in a publicly-funded third-level institution on the island of Ireland.

See below for the further information on the limitations of the list.

But there’s a problem: Why do some schools show a progression rate of over 100 per cent?

Readers will notice that some schools have a third-level progression rate of over 100 per cent. This is because the figures include mature students and first-year repeats who sat the Leaving Cert prior to 2014, students who took a Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) course and then progressed to college, and students who attended more than one school during their time in post-primary education. Some other students may have previously gone to third-level, dropped out, and returned to education again.

Only roughly 75 per cent per cent of this year’s college registrations from a given school are of students who sat the Leaving Cert in June 2014.

How do we get this information and compile it?

Information comes from two sources:

1. The State Examinations Commission provides a list of every school with Leaving Cert students from the class of 2014 except, for data protection reasons, schools with a Leaving Cert cohort of fewer than 10 students.

The information used by The Irish Times excludes candidates who sat the Leaving Cert in a school examination centre, but who were not students of that school. This means that the figures used are the total number of students who attended each school and sat the Leaving Cert in 2014.

2. The SEC list is cross-checked with information from third-level institutions on the third-level institutions on the second level school (or schools) attended by each of their first-year undergraduate entrants in 2014.

The number of students from each school is added together to calculate a total, giving the best possible estimate of the number of students who attended each school and secured a college place.

Do mistakes happen?

Yes. Errors arise. Some third-level institutions can’t identify the school that every student went to; this information has to be removed from our lists.

Some of the schools where students sat their Leaving Cert prior to 2014 have closed, or merged; these have to be removed from our lists. Where possible - and it often is – The Irish Times credits students from a now-closed school to a school into which it merged.

Why can’t I find my local school?

Not every school features in the tables. If a local school is missing, it is almost certainly because:

a.

It had a Leaving Cert cohort of 10 or fewer students.

b.

It didn’t have a Leaving Cert class this year because it introduced a Transition Year option or because it is a relatively new school and the earliest student groups haven’t yet reached sixth year.

c.

It has closed or merged with some other schools to form a new school.

Double counting of students: For many reasons – repeating the Leaving Cert, moving house, for academic or personal reasons – students sometimes move schools during their second-level education. Where a student did attend more than one school, the third-level institution that they move on to gives a credit to both schools. The figures provided in this list also include some mature students who applied to the CAO; here, the school in which they sat the Leaving Cert is listed. Students who secured a college place in 2013 but deferred and accepted this year are also included. This is a major flaw in the data available.

UCAS: Many students from schools in Co. Donegal, Protestant fee-paying schools in Co. Dublin, and some schools in counties Leitrim, Sligo and Monaghan, go on to study at UK universities. Unfortunately, these figures have not been made available by UCAS, the UK equivalent of the CAO, since 2011. St Columba’s College and St Andrew’s, both in Dublin, St Maccartan’s College in Monaghan, both Loreto schools in Donegal, and Ursuline College, Sligo, are among some of the schools who may have a higher third-level progression rate than appears on this list.

Parents considering these schools should bear this in mind and may wish to enquire with the school about how many students they send to UK universities.

Northwest Regional College: This college provides further and higher education courses in Derry, Limavady, and Strabane, and takes a high number of students from schools in Donegal.

Moville Community College, for example, on any given year, could send up to 10 students to UK universities and between 15 and 20 to Northwest Regional College. Thus, progression to third-level may be higher for many Donegal schools than appears on this list.

Lack of information on students in further education or apprenticeships: One of the biggest flaws in the data – the only data that is available – is that there is no way to track how many students go on to study in colleges of further education, or for apprenticeships. Students from Ireland’s 192 DEIS (designated disadvantaged) post-primary schools are more likely to go on to CFEs or apprenticeships. The lack of available data on the destinations of students from these schools, which represent over 26 per cent of the total number of post-primaries, does a disservice to these schools. Mercy Secondary School in Inchicore, Dublin 8, is one such school: for the past two years, every single one of its students has progressed to higher or further education, but this list does not reflect that.

Adult learners: Some schools, particularly some community schools and schools that are associated with particular colleges of education (such as Colaiste Dhulaigh in Coolock, north Dublin) have a high number of adult learners who return to education but don’t sit enough Leaving Cert subjects to qualify for a college place. Riversdale Community College in Dublin 15 – with a significant number of students sitting just a few Leaving Cert subjects, while the others sat the full exam eligible to apply for a college place – is one such school.

The Irish Times is aware of the discrepancy concerning Riversdale and has adjusted the “sits” figure based on information provided by the school. However, it is not possible to independently verify how many other schools, if any, are affected by this anomaly.

Church of Ireland College of Education: Due to student confidentiality issues, the complete list of students who progressed from school into the Church of Ireland College of Education cannot be provided, with two out of 32 students unaccounted for. This will have a minor impact on the recorded progression rate of two schools; however, those schools are not known to The Irish Times and cannot be identified.

Some of the information provided by Queen’s University Belfast was not complete. As a result, we could not confirm the school of origin of around a dozen students who began full-time undergraduate studies there this year.

IT Sligo has 1,066 first year students, but no school information for 148 of them. This is outside the control of IT Sligo and The Irish Times and may adversely affect the third-level progression of some schools in Sligo, Donegal and Leitrim. The school of origin of about 300 students who went to Trinity also could not be identified.