Kids put to test long before doing Leaving Cert

Background among factors that have impact on student's results

- BY DANNY DE VAAL

FACTOR Lone parent household

FOR generations of Irish students, the Leaving Cert has been billed as the ultimate level playing field - a strict meritocracy where hard work equals high CAO points.

However, a major new study reveals that the race for points is heavily influenced long before a student ever sits down in the exam hall, driven largely by where they live, the schools they attend, and their family's financial background.

The research, drawing on data from the 'Growing Up in Ireland' study (tracking Cohort '98 up to age 20), uncovers a staggering divide in academic outcomes.

A student's family background-measured by social class, maternal education, family type, and whether the family struggles to make ends meet - plays a massive role in their final results.

And there is a gaping divide of over 100 CAO points between students whose mothers are graduates and those whose mums only did the Junior Cert or less.

And the social mix of a student's school has a profound and compounding impact that starts early.