Single-sex top of class with college success

Single-sex schools outperform mixed learning environments in terms of how many pupils they send to third level.

Figures compiled and analysed by the Sunday Independent over the past 10 years show students from single-sex schools are more likely to secure a place in college after sitting the Leaving Cert.

The data shows all-boys schools are outperforming all-girls schools in securing college places.

However, girls who have attended a single-sex school are more likely to go on to university than a boy who has attended an all-boys school.

More than 44pc of students to have attended an all-girls' school between 2009 and last year went on to secure a place at an Irish university.

This figure is 2pc lower when it comes to an all-boys school.

Feeder Schools: Click here for the full breakdown of where Leaving Cert pupils have gone to college over the past 10 years

 

Yet boys who attend single-sex schools are the students who are most likely to progress to third level.

Just 17.5pc of students who attended an all-boys school over the past 10 years did not go on to third level.

For students from an all-girls school this figure stands at 19.1pc.

This means more than 81pc of all students who attend a single-sex school go on to secure a place at third level. More than four out of 10 (43.4pc) secure university places, while 38.2pc go on to study courses in other colleges and institutes of technology.

Students from mixed schools are more likely to opt against going on to third level.

One third of students (33pc) from mixed schools went on to study at university in the past 10 years after completing the Leaving Cert. Almost 40pc (39.7pc) studied at colleges and institutes of technology but 27.3pc did not take up the option of going to third level.

Head of UCC's school of education Dr Fiona Chambers said there are benefits to attending a mixed school. She said choosing what is best for each child can vary depending on the child's strengths and talents.

"When you are in a mixed setting you are more closely aligned to what society looks like," she said.

"Mixed school settings capture what a normal environment will look like for them. Social and emotional development tends to move quicker in a more positive way about social values in a mixed setting because you are in a diverse setting from the outset."