Academic at Villiers School

Staff and management at Villiers School aim to facilitate all boarding and day students in achieving their fullest potential in both academic and co-curricular fields at school, at each stage of their development.

As is the norm in many Irish Secondary schools, students embark on a six year programme, leading first to the Junior Cycle examinations, followed by Transition Year, and culminating with the Leaving Certificate examinations.  Villiers School is the only boarding school in Ireland authorised to also offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), an international alternative to the traditional Leaving Certificate.

In order to cope with the rapidity with which knowledge itself changes, 21st century students must seek to achieve academic excellence in school. At Villiers, we see academic excellence as the ability to perform, achieve, and/or excel in scholastic activities. While many see academic excellence as achieving high grades and superior performance in school, we see it as much more than that. For Villiers students, academic excellence is maximising the development of intellectual capacities and skills, so as to have a meaningful and fulfilling function in society at large.

Academic excellence is a process of both formal and informal education, which traverses all programmes offered at Villiers School.  It is intended that Villiers students will see education, in its’ wider context, as a limitless and unending process to be enjoyed for a lifetime. Therefore, in addition to the core subjects of English, Irish, Maths and a Modern Language, students are enabled to study a variety of subjects from the Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Business and Health Sciences spheres.

Furthermore, through Student Council, Model United Nations, Debating, Lunchtime Club, Active Schools, Choir, Trad Group, Team Sports, and many Transition Year projects, students are encouraged to develop self-confidence, persistence and leadership abilities. These, above all else on the curriculum, enable students to develop an attitude of social responsibility and an understanding of cultural and intellectual differences.

We are privileged that our students have access to Derravoher House, built c. 1835, which we have restored and developed into a library and teaching/collaborative space, whilst maintaining and enhancing its aesthetic and architectural integrity. This space enables students to work independently, within the school day, and access our extensive physical and online library to enhance their academic progress. The experience of studying and working in a building that is almost 200 years old instils a sense of reverence and respect that automatically encourages our students to focus on the task at hand.

To enable success, students engage in enrichment programs, such as wellbeing programmes, ‘prefectship’, student council, career guidance, academic guidance, study clubs, study workshops, external lectures, art exhibitions, concerts, seminars, cultural exchanges and activities directly related to their prospective area of study. In our teaching, we aim to help, stimulate, and challenge each student, and this aim is supported by careful monitoring and regular reporting. Therefore, the curriculum provided is balanced, broad and diverse.

A high priority is placed on communication with parents, and this is achieved through regular reporting, parent teacher meetings, parent and student information evenings and the facility for parents to meet with staff should they so request. Academic coordinators regularly review each student’s academic reports and liaise with teachers, the resource department, students and parents, to ensure that any barriers to individual academic achievement are addressed.

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Villiers School – Exam Results

Leaving Certificate

The Leaving Certificate points obtained by our students consistently exceed the national average each year.  On average, 30% of Villiers School students achieve more than 500 points in the Leaving Certificate. 

In 2021, two Villiers students achieved the maximum of 625 points. We typically have double the national average of students who achieve more than 400 points in the Leaving Certificate. We also have double the national average of Leaving Certificate students who achieve Higher Level Mathematics.

Additionally, academic success at Villiers has been recognized by the SEC in recent years, with a number of students achieving ‘highest grade’ awards in subjects such as Economics, Technology and German. 

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)

The IB Diploma Programme at Villiers has grown from five students in the first cohort, the graduating class of 2020, to sixteen students in our fourth cohort, the current final year students, the class of 2023.

We are very proud to have a 100% IBDP graduation rate, and our average DP results are consistent with global IB average results, with Villiers students achieving an overall average of 33 points, and an average grade of 5.25.

Further Education Destinations 

98% of our students typically progress to third level education each year. Most of these would attend Irish universities, applying through the CAO, but because of the increasingly international nature of our school, growing numbers of Villiers students pursue university courses overseas, applying through UCAS, UNICAS, or directly to universities. Several recent graduates are currently studying overseas in Spain, Germany, Thailand, Italy, Poland, the UK, the USA, and the Netherlands. Villiers School supports globally-minded students who wish to apply to overseas universities.

The following links show how the Leaving Certificate points are calculated for entrance to UK Universities: Qualifax / UCAS Tariff Points  / UCAS Tariff Calculator

  • 480 Points is equivalent to 3 x A* (UK A Levels)
  • 100 Points is equal to 36 UCAS Tariff Points
  • One A* is equal to 56 UCAS Tariff Points

Below is a list of Irish, UK and European institutions/locations where our students have progress to, and the areas of study. To note, growing numbers of Villiers students attend universities in the United States and Asia also.

  • Cambridge University, UK
  • Carlow College, St. Patrick’s
  • Cork Institute of Technology (CIT)  
  • Cork School of Music          
  • Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
  • Dublin City University (DCU)       
  • Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)
  • Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design
  • Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT)
  • Harper Adams University, Scotland & Aberdeen
  • Heidelberg University, Germany
  • Kidalton Agricultural College
  • Leiden University, Netherlands
  • Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT)
  • Limerick School of Art and Design
  • London School of Economics, UK
  • Maastricht University, The Netherlands
  • Mary Immaculate College (MIC)
  • Maynooth University
  • National College of Art and Design (NCAD)
  • National College of Ireland
  • National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG)     
  • National University of Ireland, Maynooth
  • Oxford University, UK
  • Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI)
  • Shannon College of Hotel Management (SCHM)
  • Technological University, Dublin (TUD)
  • Technological University of The Shannon (TUS)
  • Trinity College Dublin (TCD)        
  • University College Cork (UCC)
  • University College Dublin (UCD)
  • University of Edinburgh, Scotland
  • University of Göttingen, The Netherlands
  • University of Groningen, The Netherlands
  • University of Limerick (UL)
  • University of London, UK
  • University of Madrid, Spain
  • University of St. Andrews, Scotland
  • University of Tilberg, The Netherlands    
  • Queen Mary University of London
  • Queens University, Belfast

Areas of Further Education:

  • Accounting         
  • Actuarial Studies             
  • Agricultural Science
  • Architecture
  • Arts
  • Business
  • Biomedical Science
  • Business Information Systems
  • Commerce
  • Computer Science
  • Dentistry
  • Economics
  • Education/Teaching
  • Engineering
  • Environmental and Earth Sciences
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Film Studies
  • Finance
  • Financial Maths
  • Fine Arts
  • Furniture Design
  • Geography
  • History
  • Hotel Management
  • Human Rights
  • Information Systems
  • International Business
  • Journalism
  • Law
  • Law & Accounting
  • Liberal Arts
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine
  • Music
  • Nursing
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Paramedic Studies
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
  • Physiotherapy
  • Politics
  • Psychology
  • Radiography
  • Radiotherapy     
  • Science
  • Speech & Language Therapy
  • Veterinary Medicine