Two of the country's most prestigious second-level schools have published details of their Leaving Cert results - which are both significantly above the national average.
At Blackrock College in Co Dublin, the number of Leaving Cert students who scored 450 CAO points or more in this year's Leaving Cert is more than twice the national average.
St Columba's College, Whitechurch, Dublin - a boarding school which charges about €15,000 per year - says its Leaving pupils scored an average of 374 CAO points, well above the national average of 300 points.
According to the latest figures posted on Blackrock's own website, some 37 per cent of students achieved 450-points plus. By contrast, 17 per cent secured this figure nationally. Blackrock College was the first school to break ranks by publishing an analysis of its Leaving Cert results in recent years - day pupils at the school pay fees of over €4,000 a year, while it also has a significant number of boarders.
While popular with parents and prospective parents, the publication of such information has traditionally been opposed by the teacher unions.
This year Blackrock says 15 of its students scored over 540 points - the equivalent of six grade As - in the Leaving exam.
A further 34 students scored over 500 points, a remarkable figure given that only a few hundred students throughout the State achieve such high marks.
Other figures include:
School principal Alan Mac Ginty writes that "the results reaffirm our commitment to an educational ethos which sustains achievement in a Christian environment". He says the "density of achievement" gives much satisfaction and represents a "massive endorsement" of the school's "pursuit of excellence at all levels of the academic spectrum".
St Columba's gives a detailed breakdown of results for the 62 students who sat the exam. It says between eight and 13 per cent of students achieved 500 points or more, while 14-23 per cent achieved 450 points or over.
In recent years, other schools have also published exam results, including the Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co Tipperary. In 2004, some 35 per cent of its students scored 500-plus points compared to just 7 per cent nationally.
The decision of schools to publish details of their results is a response to the demand by parents for this information.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin is seeking the approval of the teacher unions for a new system in which school inspection reports - compiled by the department's inspectorate - will be released to parents. But these reports do not give any details of exam results.
