The Irish Times 2025 Feeder Schools list provides new insights into how graduates of Irish second-level schools are progressing to third-level institutions in Ireland.
Former students who attended second level in the State secured 44,507 places on undergraduate programmes at third-level institutions listed in this supplement.
Technological University Dublin (TUD) has yet to provide details of approximately 1,300-1,500 students on their current first year undergraduate programmes – therefore, the final numbers for individual schools’ progression will not be fully complete until we receive that data in March/April 2026.
As funding for approximately 2,500 additional places was provided by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless in 2025, the final number of places secured by graduates of Irish schools is likely to be 46,000. We will publish updated data online when we receive this data from TUD.
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The people who secured places in undergraduate programmes in 2025 sat the Leaving Cert in June last or in a previous year, and attended a wide range of school types, including Deis schools, private fee-paying schools, Gaelcholáistí (Irish medium), and other recognised schools.
Students attending Deis schools (English and Irish medium) make up 19.2 per cent of those who sat the Leaving Cert in 2025. They secured 14.9 per cent of the 44,507 places offered, but just 10.75 per cent (2,577) of those offered in traditional universities.
Students attending mainstream schools taught through English make up 70.5 per cent (40,929) of this year’s Leaving Certs and secured 72.8 per cent (32,281) of overall places, and 72 per cent (17,278) of places at traditional universities.
Students attending Gaelcholáistí make up 3.5 per cent of the class of 2025, but 3.9 per cent of those securing places overall and 4.6 per cent (1,110) of those receiving places in traditional universities.
Finally, students attending fee-paying schools make up 7.2 per cent (4,181) of the class of 2025 and 8.8 per cent of places offered while 12.9 per cent (3,087) secured courses in traditional universities.
TU Dublin’s report on the school of origin of their students closed on October 31st, 2025. As a result, the school of origin of approximately 1,800 TU Dublin entrants is not included in this report. While it is likely that the numbers are evenly distributed across the unversity’s feeder schools, it is possible that some schools could be disproportionately affected. When a full report is available from TU Dublin, we will update the figures.
Although Deis has significantly improved the progression prospects of students in disadvantaged areas, we are still far from being an equal-opportunity society for all our children. However, we are providing enhanced progression possibilities each year, creating better learning and career opportunities for students.
In 2025, higher education access continued to expand through multiple pathways, with, as previously stated, an additional 2,500 places funded by the Minister.
Several hundred students started new tertiary degree programmes, where they began their studies in local further education colleges before progressing to the universities which will eventually confer their degree.
In Northern Ireland, 501 and 347 students from the Republic commenced their undergraduate degrees at Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast respectively, predominantly in medical and paramedical programmes funded by the Irish Government. We are also seeing ongoing growth in degree-level apprenticeship pathways through Solas (the State agency that oversees the further education and training (FET) sector), which are growing exponentially.
However, despite the progress in recent years, there is still a distance to travel to reach a point where all children entering our early childhood education system have equal opportunities to reach their optimum potential.
1. Socioeconomic factors
A quick glance at the progression chart to traditional (Irish Universities’ Association – IUA) universities will show the dominance of fee-paying schools in securing places, with 18 of the top 25 being from this sector.
High levels of progression to third level is not confined to fee-paying schools, though. Many Gaelcholáistí and non-fee-paying schools also match and surpass those that charge fees, indicating that social class, location, language and parental expectations also play a huge part in shaping progression journeys. The top feeder school to IUA universities is Muckross College, Donnybrook, Co Dublin, a non-fee paying school. Coláiste Íosagáin, in Booterstown, Co Dublin – a Gaelcholáista – is in fourth place.
2. Most students apply to local colleges
Young people in the Republic, unlike their counterparts in the UK, tend to apply for third-level places at local colleges. Research carried out with those who have progressed to third-level indicates that most school leavers in the Republic apply to attend colleges where they can continue to socialise with their peer group.
There are significantly lower third-level progression rates among students in areas which do not have access to third-level institutions and who are therefore unable to attend a chosen course without living away from home.
3. Progression by postcode
The most affluent parts of the capital, such as Dublin 4 and Dublin 6, saw 89.1 per cent and 87.8 per cent respectively of applicants registered with local schools progress to third level this year. In other postal districts of the city, Dublin 10 and 11, the proportion of Leaving Cert students progressing to college saw 36.6 per cent and 52.2 per cent of entrants who were registered with local schools progressing to third level.
In Donegal, 74.5 per cent of entrants progressed to third level this year, while 74.9 per cent of entrants in Wexford progressed.
The social and urban-rural divide is stark when the figures are broken down into those who secure places in traditional universities. In Dublin 4 and 6, some 75.6 per cent and 66.6 per cent of those who secured a third-level place did so at a traditional university, compared with 17.6 per cent and 26.6 per cent in Dublin 10 and 11. Reflecting the tendency among applicants to apply for courses that are delivered by institutions located closer to home, Donegal and Wexford saw just 12.1 per cent and 36.2 per cent of entrants who secured a place at third level go to a traditional IUA university.
4. We still want to pursue the CAO route
The 2025 feeder-school data reveals Ireland’s exceptionally high third-level participation rate of about 80 per cent, which is among the highest in the world.
Ireland also continues to have one of the highest retention rates at second level across Europe – that is, the proportion of students who stay in school until the Leaving Cert.
5. The growth of full-time senior cycle grind schools
There are an estimated 4,000 students sitting the Leaving Cert in grind schools for which we have no data as the State Examinations Commission (SEC) does not supply that information.
However, most of the students in grind schools are included in the numbers reported by the third-level colleges as attributed to their school of origin where they sat the Junior Cycle. Ironically, if grind schools do a good job of delivering high grades for their students, the benefit is often attributed to the school they initially attended.
[ The Leaving Cert is not a meritocracy. Elitism is baked into Irish educationOpens in new window ]
6. Progression is ultimately determined by the number of places offered
The number of additional places offered by colleges changes each year. Where those changes take place may determine the success or otherwise of individual applicants. There has been an ongoing expansion in the numbers of places offered by colleges in recent years, as they have sought to increase the numbers of graduates in sectors of the economy where we have acute shortages, particularly in medical and paramedical disciplines. The increased progression rates of schools is directly linked to the additional places being added annually.
Note: 111 schools recorded a drop of more than 15 per cent in the number of students sitting the Leaving Cert in 2025, which inflated their progression rates significantly. As a result, we have excluded schools from our tables where student numbers fell by 15 per cent or more.
