The performance of students in the Leaving Certificate is more likely to be influenced by the schools they attend than the neighbourhoods they live in, a new report suggests. Report authors Emer Smyth and Merike Darmody noted there is growing interest internationally in how school and neighbourhood contexts make a difference to academic achievement. They said it can be difficult to disentangle school and neighbourhood effects in countries where all students in a particular area attend their local school. The research said the level of choice among second-level schools in Ireland means it “can provide more precise estimates of school and neighbourhood effects than those available internationally”. Neighbourhood characteristics also make a difference to achievement, with lower grades in areas characterised by higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage and more neighbourhood disorder.

Source: The Irish Times March 12, 2026 07:59 UTC