Second-level students are taking grinds in record numbers, with more than 75 per cent of all Leaving Cert pupils in Dublin opting for extra tuition at more than €50 per hour.
A survey by Student Enrichment Services (SES) also reveals how more than 40 per cent of Dublin's fifth years work for an average of 12 hours a week, often to sustain a hectic social life.
Not surprisingly, maths is the subject where most students require additional grinds, according to the survey of almost 1,000 Leaving Cert students.
In recent years, more than 5,000 Leaving Cert students failed ordinary level maths or opted to take foundation level, making them ineligible for most third-level courses.
French and Irish are the other two subjects that cause particular difficulties for students. The SES survey was completed by students attending their study skills workshops in UCD, NUI Galway and UCC.
It reveals how the grind culture has become a routine part of second-level education. More than two-thirds of Junior Cert students are taking grinds and 70 per cent of all Leaving Certs are taking grinds.
Teachers say many parents are now also paying for grinds for first-year students, aged 12 or 13.
The huge number of boys working part-time helps to explain the widening gender gap that has seen girls outperform boys in virtually all the main Leaving Cert subjects in the past decade.
Almost one in five Leaving Cert students in Dublin continue to work an average of 10 hours per week during sixth year. Part -time work is less popular among non-Dublin students.
The survey confirms girls are much more industrious than boys, taking much more time over their homework. They are also much less likely to be involved in after-school sports.
More than three-quarters of fifth- and sixth-year boys play sport for an average of six hours per week.
Despite the boom in grinds, more than 85 per cent of students are "very satisfied" with their teachers. The qualities seen as most important in their teachers were subject knowledge, the distribution of good notes and a sense of humour.
Leaving Cert students in Cork and Galway are the most studious, spending an average of 11 hours per week on homework; those in Dublin spend eight hours per week on home study.
Junior Cert students spend an average of 6½ hours per week on homework. First and second years spend an average of 2½ hours studying each week.
Junior cycle students spend on average three hours per week on the internet; that figure drops to 2½ hours per week for senior cycle students.
