From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

Leaving Certificate Exam Performance 99
Harris Street, but the average among students in Belmore Street, a mixed
intake school, is comparable in level to these middle-class schools. The
extent to which these between-school differences reflect prior differences
in level take-up at junior cycle, in Junior Certificate exam grades and/or
in school policy regarding access to higher level will be explored later in
this chapter.
Gender differences are evident in the take-up of higher level subjects.
Pooling information from 2007 and 2008 for all students, female
students took more higher level subjects than their male counterparts,
taking an average of 3.9 compared with 3.5 for male students. Nationally,
male and female students are equally likely to take no higher level
subjects, with around 15 per cent falling into this category. The gender
difference emerges in taking several higher level subjects; just under a
third (32 per cent) of female students take six or more higher level subjects
compared with less than a quarter (24 per cent) of male students.
Within the case-study schools, the picture is more complex; in only two
of the five coeducational schools do female students take significantly
more higher level subjects than males.
In order to compare grades across the case-study schools, grade
points were assigned for each subject reflecting the level taken and the
grade achieved. These points ranged from 28 for an A1 on a higher level
paper to 1 for a foundation-level D3 grade; zero points are awarded for
E, F and NG (‘fail’) grades (see Table 4.1). These grade points were then
averaged over all exam subjects taken; a similar approach to calculating
Leaving Certificate grade point average has been used previously to explore
the influences on performance (see Smyth, 1999). The approach
used here is analogous to the Central Applications Office (CAO) ‘points’
system but has the advantage of taking account of all exam subjects
taken and of foundation-level subjects. In the CAO system, the points
awarded range from 100 for A1 on a higher level paper to 5 for a D3 on
an ordinary level paper; no points are awarded for foundation level
grades and total points are calculated across the highest six subjects.
Between-school variation in Leaving Certificate exam performance
is depicted in the form of box-plots (Figure 4.2); the black line within
each box refers to the median score within the school, that is, the point at
which half of students achieve a higher score and half a lower score. The