How your address affects your chances of going to college

Limerick, Roscommon and Galway have the highest college progression rates in Ireland, while students who live in Longford or Dublin are the least likely to go to college, according to an analysis by The Irish Times.

A breakdown of the figures for Dublin, however, show that more students in more affluent parts of the county and city – predominantly south Dublin – are progressing to college at double the rate of students in more disadvantaged areas, predominantly in the north and west of the county.

In Limerick county and city, as well as in Co Roscommon, 85 per cent of students are going on to college, as are 84 per cent of students in Galway county and city. When adjusted to also take account of the number of students progressing to high-points courses, Galway, with a 47 per cent progression rate, has the most successful schools in the Republic. The number of students from Dublin going on to third level is just 66 per cent, only two points ahead of Longford, which is at the bottom of the table with 64 per cent.

The average number of students progressing to a high points course in one of the seven universities, the teacher training colleges, DIT or RCSI, is highest in Meath (49 per cent), followed by Galway and Kildare (both 47 per cent), and Dublin and Leitrim (both 46 per cent). The relatively high performance of Dublin in this table contrasts with its relatively low overall score and means that 70 per cent of Dublin students who do go to college secure a place in a high-points course.

One factor at play here is that students from more affluent areas of Dublin are more likely both to attend a fee-paying school and/or to take grinds, both of coincide with high exam performance.

It is clear where a student lives is hugely significant. Although numerous studies show the education level of a child’s mother is perhaps the biggest factor in whether or not they go to college, this in turn is, to a large extent, influenced by where the mother herself went to school. Whether or not a secondary school student goes to college depends on their proximity to a nearby third-level institute, transport links to and from college, family income and socio-economic circumstances.

It costs an estimated €11,000 for a student living away from home, compared to €7,000 for a student at home. About 18 per cent of students are in “serious financial difficulty”, according to a survey conducted by the Higher Education Authority.

The cost of college means many families cannot afford to have a child living away from home; if there is no decent selection of third-level institutions within a reasonable commuting distance, young people from low- to middle-income families are more likely to lose out.

Dublin

The low college progression rate for Dublin city and county is due to the large number of disadvantaged communities

in the capital. The contrast between the numbers going to college in affluent and disadvantaged areas of Dublin reveals glaring inequalities. While some areas in north, west and inner-city Dublin send fewer students to college than anywhere else in Ireland, many parts of south Dublin – particularly those with a high concentration of high-performing State and fee-paying schools – have some of the State’s highest third-level progression rates.

After Cork, Dublin 6W has the highest rate of college progression in Ireland (89 per cent), closely followed by Dublin 14 (88 per cent), Dublin 6, Co Dublin and Dublin 4. However the lowest progression rates of all are in Dublin 10 (Ballyfermot), where just 36 per cent of students go on to third-level and only 14 per cent go on to university or a high-points course, and Dublin 11 (predominantly Finglas with some parts of Glasnevin) and Dublin 12 (Crumlin and Walkinstown), both with a third-level progression rate of just 43 per cent.

In some parts of the city – most notably Dublin 1, where Belvedere College is based – the college-progression figures are significantly skewed upwards by the presence of a fee-paying school.

Where students from disadvantaged areas do go to college, the poor state of Dublin’s transport means they are more likely to attend nearby IT Tallaght or IT Blanchardstown than a university. Earlier this year, a report from researchers in UCD’s school of geography found that in 2013, 60 per cent of entrants came from within a 9km radius of the Belfield campus.

Postgraduates Richard Geoghegan and Seán Judge found a lack of adequate transport links to west Dublin hindered access by students in disadvantaged areas to UCD. The research also showed that a third of students north of the Liffey, who progressed to one of the four universities on the east coast, went to Dublin City University in Glasnevin.

Limerick:

Contrary to Limerick’s unfair reputation as dogged by crime and deprivation, the county sends 85 per cent of its students to third level, with 42 per cent of these going to a high-points institution. Here, the influence of the University of Limerick is clear, with 28 per cent of students from Limerick going on to study there. Almost 24 per cent of students from Limerick secured places at the Limerick Institute of Technology and a further 7 per cent went to UCC.

In contrast, fewer than 2.5 per cent of students went to Trinity College and UCD combined. Interestingly, 168 Limerick students who chose a teacher-training college opted to study at the nearby Mary Immaculate College of Education, compared to a measly four in the other teacher-training colleges combined (excluding teacher-training at the Froebel Institute in Maynooth University, for which figures are not available).

Longford, Leitrim and Roscommon:

These have the lowest population rates in the Republic of Ireland. At first glance, Longford’s low college-progression rate seems peculiar, particularly as neighbouring Roscommon and Leitrim send so many students to third level. However a glance at Longford’s location – and the road network – shows the county is a significant distance from any third-level institution except Athlone Institute of Technology, where it sends almost 14 per cent of its students; even then, the barrier of Lough Rea means students at home have some distance to travel. By contrast, Leitrim is closer to its nearest third level, IT Sligo, where it sends 21 per cent of its students.

Just under 10 per cent of Longford’s students go to NUI Galway, compared to 15.5 per cent of students from Roscommon (which has a much better road link). The upshot of this all is that a young person from Longford, who may be just as smart as their peer in Roscommon and may get the same or more CAO points, ultimately has less chance of going to university.

Donegal

: At 79 per cent, Donegal’s third-level progression rate is relatively high; indeed, as a many students from Donegal schools traditionally go to British universities and Northern Ireland’s Northwest Regional College, which are not featured in these tables, its true progression rate is probably up to five percentage points higher. A full third of Donegal students study at the local Letterkenny IT; another 9.3 per cent go to neighbouring IT Sligo.

Overall, fewer students from Donegal go on to university or a high-points course than anywhere else in the Republic bar Waterford, which is dominated by the Waterford Institute of Technology.