Private fee-paying schools and grind schools continue to be the main providers of students to our leading universities, according to the latest feeder school lists obtained by The Irish Times. The lists underline what one Dublin inner-city principal calls the new "educational apartheid" in second-level education, write Seán Flynn and John Downes
Increasingly, it appears that better-off parents are opting for private education and spurning free schools in their area. The private schools which dominate the latest lists all report that demand for places is at record levels.
In contrast, the Department of Education says there are over 20,000 unfilled places in the free second-level school sector in Dublin alone. For example, there are 600 unfilled places in O'Connell's school in Dublin's north inner city, and 300 unfilled places in Synge Street CBS.
This is partly because of the surge in demand for private education and grind schools. The State's largest grind school, the Institute of Education in Dublin, is the biggest provider of students to both UCD and TCD. The figures published today, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, track the number of students which schools in the Republic sent to UCD and TCD last year. It also details the percentage success rate of the top 25 schools, where possible.
There has been speculation that university admissions officers might seek to place a ban on the provision permitting The Irish Times to obtain these lists.
However, while publication of full school league tables is currently banned under the Education Act, the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, plans to amend the legislation. He says the current total ban is excessive and leads to an information vacuum.
Today's list confirms that Dublin schools such as Belvedere College, Gonzaga, Mount Anville and Alexandra College continue to provide a very high number of students to UCD and TCD.