Loreto top of the class for college feeder schools

Loreto Secondary School in Navan came out as the top college feeder school in Meath last year, according to the Irish Times 2025 Feeder School list.

Of the 20 Meath secondary schools, Loreto St Michael's had the highest college progression rate at 89 per cent. A total of 119 students who attended the Navan school accepted CAO third level places in 2025.

The three schools with the highest progression rates in Meath were all girls schools with Loreto Secondary School, Navan joined in the top three by Scoil Mhuire, Trim and St Joseph's Mercy Secondary School in Navan.

Progression rates not only include the students who sat the Leaving Cert last year but also include past pupils of a school who sat the Leaving Cert in previous years and accepted places in 2025.

The full list of Meath schools includes: Loreto Secondary School, Navan, 89 per cent; Scoil Mhuire, Trim, 88 per cent; St Joseph's Mercy Secondary School, Navan, 81 per cent; Ratoath College, 77 per cent; St Peter's College, Dunboyne, 77 per cent; Dunshaughlin Community College, 76 per cent; St Patrick's Classical School, Navan, 75 per cent; Boyne Community School, Trim, 74 per cent; Coláiste de Lacy, Ashbourne, 73 per cent; O'Carolan College, Nobber, 73 per cent; Eureka Secondary School, Kells, 70 per cent; Ashbourne Community School, 70 per cent; St Ciaran's Community School, Kells, 68 per cent; St Oliver's Post Primary, Oldcastle, 62 per cent; Athboy Community School, 62 per cent; Coláiste na Mí, Johnstown, 59 per cent; Coláiste San Frionsias, Gormanston; 58 per cent; Coláiste na hInse, Bettystown, 56 per cent; Coláiste Clavin, Longwood, 54 per cent; Beaufort College, Navan, 49 per cent.

It is important to note that in the numbers provided to the Irish Times, each third level institution includes all incoming first-year students who attended a given school without identifying what year they sat the exam so it does not give a complete picture for the class of 2025. Nationally it is estimated that in any given year, around 20 per cent of all Republic of Ireland incoming first year students sat the Leaving Cert before the current one.

Data from Technical University Dublin (TUD) with details of 1,300 to 1,500 more students nationally needs to be added when received so this is likely to affect the final figures.

The report also looked at the school which had improved the most in terms of college progression rates between 2019 and 2025 with Coláiste na Mí in Johnstown featuring on the list, recording a 28 per cent increase during the six year period.

In 2019, a total of 109 Coláiste na Mí students sat the Leaving Cert with 31 per cent accepting college places. Six years later, 105 students sat the exam in the school with 59 per cent going on to college last year.

The most popular college among Meath students was Dublin City University with 397 students from Meath secondary schools accepting places there.

This was followed by Maynooth University with 386, TU Dublin with 251, Dundalk IT with 125, and UCD and TCD both having 100 each. As the full data for TUD has not yet been received, this may increase further.

Some 20 Meath students opted to study in Northern Ireland with 13 taking place at Queens University and seven choosing the University of Ulster.

A total of 19 students opted for fee-paying college in the Republic with nine progressing on to Dublin Business School, six to Griffith College Dublin and four to Carlow College.

The Irish Times data published shows how many students from each school in the Republic of Ireland go to various third-level colleges in Ireland. This includes progression data for 20 publicly funded colleges in the Republic of Ireland, the two Northern Irish universities and two independent fee-paying third levels.

The information is compiled from two sources: The State Examinations Commission Leaving Cert sits list which gives the number of students that sat the Leaving Cert in each post-primary school and lists provided by each of the higher education institutions which gives the school of original of the full-time first-year undergraduate cohort.

The list looks at students who accepted undergraduate courses in third level colleges only and does not look at other further education options such as those who took up places on Post Leaving Certificate courses (PLC) or apprenticeships.