The feepaying sector and the Gaelscoileanna continue to dominate on a table that shows the progression of students to high-points courses.
This table shows the flow of students to courses in the seven universities, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the colleges of education, including St Angela’s College in Sligo, and DIT.
Fee-paying schools continue to dominate the table despite cuts to their funding, with 16 of them featuring in the top 25 schools.
Gaelscoileanna also feature strongly. Four of the top 25 are Gaelscoileanna, while one more – Coláiste Iognáid in Galway city – offers an Irish instruction option to students who wish to take it.
Just two non-feepaying English language medium schools, as well as Coláiste Iognáid, feature in the top 25 – Ard Scoil Ris in Dublin 9 and the Dominican College, Muckross Park.
This is the fifth year in which The Irish Times has published the list of schools that have the highest progression rate to the seven universities, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, colleges of education and Dublin Institute of Technology.
Generally, courses in these institutions require a higher level of points for entry than other institutions on the feeder school lists. As a result, a certain level of Leaving Cert achievement can be inferred from schools that have had a high proportion of their past pupils accepting places in these colleges.
The first non-feepaying schools in the high points list are in joint tenth place. Coláiste Eoin and Colaiste Iosagain, Stillorgan are well known Gaelscoileanna and each has a progression rate of 97 per cent.
Of course it must be noted that geography also plays a large role.
Schools in university cities tend to have a large proportion of their students opting to attend the local university, and schools in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick feature strongly. Indeed Kildare schools, Clongowes Wood College and Newbridge College, both well known fee-paying schools are the only schools outside of the university counties to feature in the top 25.
Gaelscoileanna continue to uphold their reputation for academic excellence and are well represented in the top chart. Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ in Limerick has a high points progression rate of 91 per cent. Coláiste Iognáid in Galway city has a rate of 92 per cent.
Finally Coláiste an Phiarsaigh in Glanmire, also does extremely well with a progression rate of 94 per cent.
Almost 5,000 Leaving Cert students managed a CAO tally of more than 500 points in 2013, making up just over nine per cent of the total. A further 24 per cent scored between 400 points and 499 points.
Overall, almost 60 per cent of Leaving Cert students scored 300 points or more in 2013.
Most of the entrants to the institutions counted in this table, however, would be made up of students who were in the top 33 per cent.
Again, it must be remembered that these figures do not tell us where the class of 2013 ended up. The progression rates detailed here include not only this year’s Leaving Cert cohort; they also include students who previously attended the schools in question.
They may have deferred their place, they may be going back to college as mature students, or they may have repeated their Leaving Cert in a different school such as Yeats College or the Institute of Education.
All of these students are a part of the schools’ 2013 progression rate.
