Industry News
Private schools 'dominate Irish uni places'
Posted on 21st November 2007
Irish students attending fee-paying schools continue to "dominate" university places, according to the country's 2007 college entry figures.
The findings, published in the Irish Independent, cover five of the country's universities as well as the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland.
It revealed the schools with the highest entry levels are the "grind schools", but that fee-paying schools have seen a "steady rise" in enrolments.
"The prominence of the fee-paying sector will reignite debate about education equity and how wealthier parents can buy advantage by selecting schools with more resources," the newspaper claimed.
Recently, Britain's top universities have been criticised for accepting a disproportionate number of private school pupils onto their courses.
The Institute for Public Policy Research highlighted that 40 per cent of Oxford's undergraduates come from independent schools, despite them only teaching seven per cent of Britain's school children.
Research published by the education charity the Sutton Trust showed that a third of Oxbridge admissions over the last five years have come from the same 100 schools, which were mostly selective and fee-paying.
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