Towards a Better Future

Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System
(b2) Mathematics Attainments at Junior Cycle
In the 2015 TIMSS survey of achievement a score of 523, significantly above the TIMSS centre
point average, was recorded and ranked Ireland’s students ninth out of 49 countries. The performance
of the ‘lowest-achieving’ students improved between the two cycles of 1995 and 2015, while that of
the ‘highest-performing’ students showed a small dis-improvement. Relative strengths in the Content
areas of Number and Data and Chance and weaknesses in Algebra and Geometry were noted. In
the Cognitive domain, a relative strength was recorded in Knowing and a weakness in Applying.
Ireland’s performance in Mathematics has not significantly changed since 1995. Compared with
1995, a slight increase of three percentage points was noted at the Lower and Intermediate
benchmarks and no change at the Higher and Advanced benchmarks. In all cases,the changes were
not statistically significant. No significant gender differences were found.
In the 2015 PISA survey, students in Ireland
achieved a mean score of 503.7, significantly
above the corresponding OECD average and
ranked 13th out of 35 OECD countries and
18th out of all participating countries/
economies. Singapore significantly outperformed
all other countries, while fourteen
countries significantly outperformed Ireland.
The range of achievement in Ireland is
significantly narrower in comparison with the
OECD average. In Ireland, the performance of
students at the lower level (Level 2) was greater
than that of the corresponding OECD average
(15.0% v. 23.4%), while at the higher levels
(Levels 5 & 6), the corresponding proportions
“
In the 2015 PISA survey,
students in Ireland achieved
a mean score of 503.7,
significantly above the
corresponding OECD
average and ranked 13th
out of 35 OECD countries and
18th out of all participating
countries/economies.
”
were 9.8% and 10.7%. In short, lower-performing students do well relative to their OECD
counterparts, while higher-performing do less well.
Male students in Ireland significantly outperformed females by 16.1 points. This is a larger difference
than the corresponding OECD average, which is also in favour of male students. The performances
of males and females below Level 2 are broadly similar (14.1% and 15.8%) and much lower than the
OECD averages of 23.0% and 23.7%, while that of male students in Ireland at Levels 5 & 6 is higher
than that of females (12.4% and 6.5%).
(b3) Science Attainments at Junior Cycle
In the TIMSS 2015 survey, a mean score of 530, significantly above the centre point, was recorded
and placed the performance of Ireland’s students 10thamong 39 countries. In the Content areas,
relative strengths were noted in Biology and Earth Science and weaknesses in Physics and Chemistry.
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