Sean Flynn, Irish Times Education Editor outlines a guide to Grind schools.

Q. The grind schools are very successful in getting their students into the main colleges. How good are they?

A. Well, the Institute of Education was the top feeder school for both UCD and Trinity in the recent tables published by The Irish Times. Bruce College, Ashfield and some of the others are also thought to have done well - although their precise figures are still awaited.

Q. So that's it. Time to pack Mary and Johnny off to the grind school to get the points and take their place in Trinity.

A. Hold on a second. The statistics for the institute do not tell the full story. Since it has the largest number of students doing the Leaving Cert, it was always going to do well in a table based solely on the figures.

A subsequent Sunday Times league table - which ranked schools on the percentage of pupils who made it to TC- placed the institute a more modest 26th. Guess what? Coláiste Íosagáin, Blackrock, Dublin, a non-fee paying school, came out second.

Q. So we can forget about the institute. We will put the kids into the free State schools who did well in the list.

A. Try it if you can and you will save a fortune. But be warned - the waiting lists for State schools, and fee-paying schools, which performed well in the league tables are already very lengthy. You will be grand if one of your children already attends the secondary school in question or if you are in the parish; otherwise you might as well forget it.

Q. Grind schools are very expensive. Is is worth the money?

A. Hard question to answer. Like all schools, be honest about your children's abilities - before deciding on your school.

No grind school will turn your child in a high-points genius unless they have the ability. One grind school principal says: "If a mammy comes in with Johnny who got a rake of C's in the Junior Cert and tells me he wants to do medicine, I tell her she would be better off in Lourdes. We are not miracle workers".

Q. But at least grind schools are exam-orientated and might help a lazy student to study?

A. There is some truth in this.

Grind schools are hated because they focus on exams, exams and exams.

Some of them have got into trouble for "tipping" questions which are supposed to come up in exams - and then fail to do so. But, in general, the top grind schools are tuned into the precise exam needs of students.

This is not all good. Teachers say students miss out on the wider aspects of school life. The joy of learning, the community spirit, the sport and the craic. The grind schools say there is damn all craic in preparing for the Leaving.

Grind schools do provide more of a nanny service than most secondary schools. In Bruce, for example, students work 9 to 5 every day and they have no option but to do supervised study during the day. Similar regimes are in place in most other grind schools.

Q. What about the teachers. Where do they come from?

A. Guess what. Many of them are actually doing nixers. Some of the best-known teachers in the institute actually teach in fee-paying and State schools in Dublin. They do nixers after school and at weekends. The ASTI takes a dim view of this behaviour, but as one of grind school teachers said this week: "Let's face it. Most teachers do private grinds. We are just a bit more high-profile".

Q. I have heard that grind schools operate a ruthless "hire and fire" policy toward staff. Is this true?

A. You could say that. While the ASTI and the rest moan about polite Department of Education inspections, teachers in many grind schools must satisfy the most discerning inspectors possible - their own pupils.

Grind schools routinely hand out teacher-assessment forms to students. Class performance, homework and preparation is rated. Teachers who do not come up to scratch can forget it.

Q. What do the unions say about this?

A. They hate the grind schools and will tell dark tales about how the focus is entirely on upping the student numbers and bringing in the loot. They say the atmosphere in staffrooms can be very intense. "Everyone feels they are being watched and assessed all of the time," says one ASTI figure. He says a good motivated student will do well in any school. You don't have to pay €5,000 a year to achieve excellence.

Q. What do the grind schools say?

You can imagine. We can achieve great results. Look at our exam results etc.

Q. So what should I do. Take the grind school option?

A. That is a matter for you. Our job is just to give you some food for thought!