An increasing number of UCD and Trinity students come from private fee-paying schools that charge more than €3,000 per year, according to new figures. Seán Flynn, Education Editor, reports.
Nine of the top 10 schools who provided first year undergraduates to University College Dublin last year are fee-paying. The pattern is similar in Trinity College Dublin.
The Republic's largest grind school - the Institute of Education - is the main feeder school for both colleges. It costs about €5,000 a year to study full-time at the institute.
The details are published as part of the annual Irish Times survey Third-Level: Who Goes Where?
The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, has acknowledged that the publication of these lists last year stiffened his determination to widen third-level access.
Earlier this year, he abandoned plan to reintroduce college fees - although he did secure €43 million to help widen access.
Other private grind schools - Bruce College, Dublin, and Ashfield College, Dublin, also feature prominently on the UCD list. Despite the dominance of fee-paying schools, some State schools are very well represented at UCD and/or Trinity.
These include Muckross Park, Donnybrook, Dublin; Portmarnock Community College, Dublin; Skerries Community College, Co Dublin; and Gorey Community School, Co Wexford.
Figures for NUI Maynooth, which are also published today, show a much wider social representation.
The figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the total number of Leaving Certificate students from each second-level school in the Republic entering UCD or Trinity last September.
The figures show that 121 students from the institute went to UCD last year and 81 went to TCD.
In stark contrast, students from poorer areas are poorly represented.
With some exceptions, students from vocational schools are poorly represented also.
The totals for each school are, of course, partially influenced by the size of the school.
For example, the Institute of Education has far more Leaving Certificate students than many smaller schools.
Last year, about 400 students sat the Leaving Certificate at the institute.
The schools which appear to have enjoyed the greatest success in getting pupils into UCD include Mount Anville in Dundrum, Dublin; St Michael's College, Ballsbridge, Dublin; and Gonzaga College in Sandford Road, Dublin.
A very high percentage of their Leaving Certificate classes secured places in UCD last year.
The figures show that NUI Maynooth has, perhaps, the best record of any Irish university in attracting students from a diverse social background.
In recent years, its president, Dr Seamus Smyth, has placed a huge emphasis on widening access. The main feeder schools for the college are Coláiste Chiaráin, Leixlip, Co Kildare (25 students) and Maynooth Post Primary (23).
For the first time this year, The Irish Times also publishes Department of Education figures showing the number who sat the Leaving Certificate in all the main feeder schools.
Over the coming weeks, The Irish Times will also be publishing details of the main feeder schools providing students to DCU, UCC, NUI Galway, University of Limerick and the 14 institutes of technology.