Feeder Schools: Gaelcholáistí show high progression rates into college

This year’s Feeder Schools supplement provides data detailing the degree to which students of Gaelcholáistí (Irish-medium second-level schools) are progressing to third-level education.

Three of the top 10 schools listed in the table detailing the schools with the highest progression rates are Gaelcholáistí where all subjects are taught through the medium of Irish and where Irish is the spoken language of the school.

An overall progression pattern shows students attending Gaelcholáistí have a higher rate of progression to traditional universities than their peers attending English-medium secondary schools. Slightly fewer attend technological universities, while more attend other, smaller, colleges.

According to the data supplied to The Irish Times, 1,688 students attending non-Deis Gaelcholáistí sat the Leaving Certificate in 2023. This number represents 3.0 per cent of the overall number of students (55,395) who sat the exam in the State this year.

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Feeder Schools: Gaelcholáistí show high progression rates into college

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A total of 1,613 of these students secured courses at third-level, representing 3.6 per cent of the overall number of places secured this year. Of these, 59.7 per cent secured a place at a traditional university while 21 per cent secured a place at a technological university and 14.8 per cent accepted places at other institutions such as teacher training colleges.

Overall progression for non-Deis Gaelcholáistí is very high at 95.6 per cent, second only to private schools (99.5 per cent) and ahead of other non-Deis English medium schools which recorded a rate of 82 per cent.

Note: Some students who changed school or deferred taking up a college place are counted twice in official figures supplied by education authorities, leading to some schools recording rates of more than 100%. Progression rates in some schools which recorded a sizeable drop in student numbers between 2022-23 are inflated for statistical reasons; we have excluded these schools in editorial commentary.

Irish-medium Deis schools

Although fewer in number, students attending Irish-medium Deis schools were also more likely to progress to university with 33.8 per cent securing a place in 2023 compared with 23.8 per cent of students attending English medium Deis schools receiving an offer.

Of those attending Irish-medium Deis schools, 23.7 per cent secured a place at a technological university against 29.5 per cent at English medium schools. This is compared with 29.5 per cent of students attending English language Deis schools who received an offer for a place at a technological university.

At 10.5 per cent, slightly more students at Deis Gaelcholáistí received places at other colleges against 10 per cent of English-language Deis schools.

There are likely to be several reasons why this disparity exists between Irish-medium schools and their English-medium counterparts across different institutions.

Studies underscoring the advantages of bilingualism for cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, and problem-solving skills, would suggest immersive bilingual education could be a factor.

Like their counterparts educated primarily in English, students attending Gaelcholáistí in more affluent areas are more likely to progress directly into undergraduate programmes at traditional universities.

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Another contributing factor could be that many of the country’s Gaelcholáistí were founded following concerted grass-roots campaigns by parents, implying a potentially higher level of parental involvement and engagement in their children’s education.

The high demand for Irish teachers could also be a contributing factor in the higher number of students that secured places at other colleges, which include teacher training colleges Mary Immaculate and Marino Institute of Education.

The figures may highlight the benefits of bilingualism and language immersion but with several counties still without a single second level Irish-medium school, advocates of Irish-medium education continue to be critical of what they say is a lack of State support for the sector.

Last week, students, parents and teachers from Irish-medium primary schools from the Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8 areas gathered at the gates of Leinster House to call for a Gaelcholáiste to meet their needs. Despite five Gaelscoileanna (Irish-medium primary schools) operating in the area, there is no provision of Irish-medium secondary schooling.

Currently, students from these schools must travel long distances to attend Gaelcholáistí in other areas or end up changing to English-medium education, which can be disruptive to their education and family life.

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