STUDENTS WHO achieve higher points in the Leaving Cert are more likely to progress in college, a Higher Education Authority (HEA) report on drop-out rates in the third-level education sector in Ireland shows.
The report, published today, shows that this trend is most clearly reflected in mathematics and that those who perform better at maths are the more likely to progress from first year to second year at third level, the basis on which the statistics were recorded.
The average drop-out between first year and second year at HEA institutions, which include the seven universities, institutes of technology (ITs) and other colleges, stood at 15 per cent.
However, the study shows that the drop-out rate rose to one quarter of IT students on certificate level and ordinary degree courses.
These students attain an average of between 250 and 300 points in their Leaving Cert.
The drop-out level fell to 16 per cent among honours degree students attending ITs, who attained between 300 and 350 points on average.
Honours degree students attending one of the Republic’s seven universities, who averaged between 400 and 450 points in their Leaving Cert, had a corresponding drop-out rate of 9 per cent.
Other colleges, primarily made up of teacher training colleges, where students attained an average of 450 to 500 points in their Leaving Cert, had a 4 per cent equivalent drop-out rate.
Females were less likely to drop out of college, with a 13 per cent drop-out rate compared to 17 per cent among males.
While students from lower socio-economic groups are less likely to access third-level education, the study indicates that once students entered third-level education, the drop-out rate averaged out with no significant difference between socio-economic backgrounds.
On a sectoral basis, the highest drop-out rate was recorded among computer science students across the third-level sector.
At IT level, the technology disciplines were identified as problem areas.
The study shows that 28 per cent of students attending third-level institutions achieved 60 points or more in Leaving Cert maths, the equivalent of an A1 at ordinary level or a C3 at higher level. However, this dropped significantly within the IT sector with 15 per cent of higher degree students, 7 per cent of ordinary degree students and 4 per cent of certificate level students attaining this level.
It also pointed to a low level of attainment in maths among students on technology courses, where students would be expected to have a high competency.
For example, the proportion of electronic engineering students who attained 60 points or more in maths stood at 82 per cent at university level, but drops to just 21 per cent among honours degree students at IT level.
In other courses such as science this attainment level dropped to 40 per cent at university level and just 15 per cent among honour degree students at IT level.
“There is some kind of mismatch between these stem courses and the level of attainment in mathematics and, as we know, these are the types of courses that have been identified as critical for sustaining national economic development and for attracting further direct investment,” said Dr Vivienne Patterson, head of statistics with the HEA.
Estimates by the HEA indicate that completion rates for students, or those who finish college, stand at between 79 to 80 per cent at university level and at between 67 and 70 per cent in the IT sector, which compares well internationally, according to HEA chief executive Tom Boland.
The study is based on 35,000 full-time undergraduate students who entered third-level education between 2007 and 2008.