The proportion of students from expensive "grind" schools entering UCD and Trinity College may be even higher than indicated in yesterday's reports in The Irish Times.
Both UCD and TCD were yesterday investigating why figures released under the Freedom of Information Act did not include any reference to Bruce College, one of the State's largest schools.
Dublin's Institute of Education was the top feeder school for both UCD and TCD according to the figures issued by the colleges.
There were some reports yesterday of parents threatening to withdraw their children from Bruce College because the school did not feature in the two lists.
Mr Michael Hogan, CEO of the college, expressed confidence that his school would emerge favourably from any comprehensive list. He has asked UCD and TCD to investigate why the college was omitted from the list supplied under the Freedom of Information Act.
Inquiries are also being made with the CAO about getting the figures.
He added: "We know our students did extremely well in the Leaving Certificate 2001 and we are confident that statistics from other third-level colleges will confirm this. In fact over 50 per cent of our students scored 360 CAO points that year. Practically all these students are now in third-level education."
Competition between Bruce and the institute, where fees are more than €4,400, is intense. Earlier this year the principal of Bruce College, Dublin, Mr Pat Phipps, left his post and set up his own school in the midlands.
Mr Raymond Kearns, owner of the Institute of Education, said the figures were a vindication of his outstanding teaching staff. It was also a great tribute to the motivation of his students.
Several hundred students take the Leaving Cert at the institute in comparison to about 120 in most secondary schools.
A number of school principals contacted The Irish Times yesterday to complain that the figures exaggerated the performance of the institute vis-à-vis other schools.
Mr Sean Ashe, principal of Maynooth post-primary school, pointed out that a higher percentage of his students made it to TCD than the institute, but this was not reflected in the figures.
But Mr Kearns said numbers were not particularly high in 2000-2001. He also said the institute's success covered the whole third-level spectrum, not just UCD and TCD. He said less than 10 per cent of his students were repeat Leaving Certs.
Meanwhile, a former president of the ASTI and a former member of the Points Commission, Mr John Hurley, said yesterday's reports failed to point out the fundamental injustice in allowing students who could afford it the opportunity of a double Leaving Cert.
"Many students who repeat in grind schools do not have to do Irish, English or maths because they had taken these subjects the previous year. Instead, they concentrate on points-friendly subjects," he said.