In the School League Tables in last Tuesday’s edition an error occurred regarding the number of students who sat the Leaving Cert ( called SITs) in 2013 in 10 “grind” schools, including the Institute of Education, Dublin. As the SITS were wrong, the resulting third level progression figures for the 10 grind schools, published in our 2013 School League Tables supplement on Tuesday, are incorrect. We regret the publication of the incorrect figures.
The numbers of SITs for grind schools are not available through the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and were obtained from a third party. We inadvertently put the number of applicants in a column which stated that it represented the numbers sitting the Leaving Certificate in 2013.
For example, the well-known Dublin grind school, the Institute of Education, incorrectly showed a relatively lower progression rate compared with schools where the number of Leaving Cert SITs was correct. The Institute says that 582 domestic students sat the Leaving Cert in 2013 , and 555 Institute students accepted a CAO place this autumn. This would give a third level progression rate, based on domestic Leaving Cert students, of 95 per cent.
We have checked directly with the grind schools regarding the numbers who sat the Leaving Cert in those schools, and a corrected chart showing the schools’ own figures, and the related progression rates, is below.
The numbers sitting the Leaving Cert in these 10 grind schools are supplied by the schools themselves, and are therefore not directly comparable with the SITs figures for other schools in the Republic, published on Tuesday, which are from the SEC.
Grind schools tend to send a higher proportion of students to the UK or European universities each year, and these students are not counted in our figures for any school, grind or non-grind. For example, Limerick Tutorial College sent 11 students to UK/European universities in 2013.
In the original league tables on Tuesday students from Limerick Tutorial College who went to University of Limerick this year (38 students in all) were inadvertently not included. The chart below corrects this.
Some Leaving Cert students in grind schools are mature students who sit the Irish exam and progress to study primary school teaching with Hibernia college and those students are not counted in the college progression figures.
Top grind schools: new figures
Yeats School, Galway: 205 LC sits; 196 places allocated; 96% progression.
Leinster Senior College: 69 LC sits, 61 places allocated; 88% progression.
Institute of Education: 582 LC sits; 555 places allocated; 95% progression.
Bruce College, Cork: 171 LC sits; 159 places allocated; 93% progression.
Hewitt College, Cork: 87 LC sits; 92 places allocated; 106% progression.
Yeats College, Waterford: 77 LC sits; 61 places allocated; 79% progression.
Brookfield College, Tralee: 94 LC sits; 85 places allocated; 90% progression.
Limerick Tutorial Centre: 167 sits; 174 places allocated; 104% progression.
Deane College, Cork: 36 LC sits; 23 places allocated; 64% progression.
Ashfield College, Templeogue: 24 LC sits; 44 places allocated; 183% progression.
KEY:
LC sits refers to the number of students sitting the Leaving Cert in 2013, according to the colleges’ own data.
Places allocated is the total number, from all LC years of the school, who accepted a 2013 CAO place.
The progression % is the total number, from all years, to 3rd level, as a percentage of LC 2013 students.
