Carl O'Brien: ‘Are grinds really worth it?
eye-watering salaries
for the most sought-after teachers.
One of the new arrivals to the private tuition scene is online provider Grinds360, which has poached teachers from established operators like the Institute of Education and the Dublin Academy of Education. The grind schools, which are heavily oversubscribed, insist students fare best in-person with real teachers.
Most Leaving Cert students avail of grinds nowadays. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Either way, business is booming in a sector estimated by some to be worth as much as €60-€80 million.
But maybe a more significant question is: why? What factors are at play in driving so many to secure whatever advantage they can get?
READ MORE
High stakes
The high-stakes nature of the Leaving Cert and CAO points system is an obvious one. Some argue that competition for top college courses has intensified due to grade inflation and rising points requirements. Others point to increasing anxiety, with more students feeling pressure from their own expectations or those of their parents.
What is clear is that grinds have become normalised and are now an accepted part of exam success for most students.
The grinds culture in Ireland is well in excess of many other European countries. According
to a 2022 ESRI study
, about one in five final-year students (16-20 per cent) get private support in Germany compared to more than half (55 per cent) in Ireland.
Yet, the study's authors,
Prof Selina McCoy and Prof Delma Byrne
, found that private tuition only appeared to pay off for students with lower levels of achievement, with 'little, if any' gain for their middle and higher achieving peers.
Nonetheless, grinds remain a lucrative business in Ireland, with costs ranging from €80 per hour for private grinds to more than €11,000 for full-time grind schools.
The popularity of grinds raises uncomfortable questions around the quality of teaching in regular schools. Teacher shortages in key subject areas mean many students have either reduced subject choice or may be taught by an unqualified or 'out of field' teacher.
Shortages
Parents often are unaware, given that principals fear reputational damage if they highlight these difficulties. Some schools, especially in the South Dublin area, have been losing significant numbers of students to grind schools as a result.
It remains to be seen whether Leaving Cert reforms – with a greater emphasis on project work and continual assessment – will affect demand and, in turn, the business model of grinds. Or perhaps the growth in the number of alternative pathways into further and higher education will take some heat out of the CAO points race.
Anything that eases some of the acute stress experienced by students must, surely, only be a positive.
How were the exams for you?
We'd love to hear your feedback on this year's Leaving Cert exams: what were the hardest ?; what kind of toll did it take on students?; what changes would you like to see?; are you concerned about grade 'deflation' and its impact on CAO points?
Please take a few minutes to complete our survey, below, and we'll share the results soon:
https://www.research.net/r/ClassroomtoCollege
Later this week:
In advance of the CAO deadline, we'll share a last-minute checklist, as well as updates on what course areas have additional places and our analysis of how the 'deflation' of grades this year may affect this year's CAO points.
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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘The stress is inhumane': Second Dublin council pauses scheme to buy homes of tenants at risk of homelessness
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Irish Times
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Does it make sense to hold onto my husband's bank shares and his stockbroker account?
I know that you have done your best to try to explain the misery that befell many of us when the banks were taken over by the Government. But some of us are remedial and still don't quite understand where we now stand. My late husband worked in AIB and had his life's savings in AIB shares. (For safety he diversified into equally 'safe' BOI shares!). I recall that, before the crash, his AIB shares were worth about €450,000. They were held with Goodbody's . I don't know why. My December 2024 statement states that, as of now, I have close to €25,000 invested roughly evenly across the two big banks. READ MORE Last month, I paid an annual charge of €701,61 to Goodbody's (Cumulative Effect of Costs and Charges on Returns), of which €501,61 was in non-Goodbody charges My questions are as follows: Should I close this account with Goodbodys since I have never done – and don't plan to do – any trading. Is there any point in hanging on to these shares in the hope that, when the banks are making millions again, they might feel sorry for those of us who lost everything and offer some kind of compensation? In fairness, AIB continues to pay my widow's pension. Ms J.R. The first rule in making sense of investments is understanding what you are paying for the opportunity of gain. Charges can fundamentally affect your return so it is important to get a proper fix on them. I get the sense you're not too sure why you are paying the amount you are paying Goodbody's to manage this portfolio of shares and cash. I've spoken to Goodbodys who, no more than their rivals, can be difficult o tie down on the question of fees. To their credit, they have suggested you contact them directly so that they can walk you through exactly what the charges are and for what service. As usual, I have not given any of your identifying details to them as I did not have your explicit permission to do so but they tell me they have offered an experienced person on standby to deal with you directly on this matter. I'll pass those details on to you. Charges aside, there are a couple of big issues here. First, should you hold on to the shares and second, should you continue to hold an account with Goodbody's or any other broker? Let's take those in reverse order. You have kind of answered the second question with your assertion that since your husband died and you inherited these shares, you have never done – and do not plan to do – any trading. There is no obligation to hold your shares through a broker although you will need to engage a broker should you ever decide to sell them. These days, shares are 'dematerialised'. This means that any paper share certificates you hold – which used to be the legal proof of ownership – are now worthless. Instead, details of your shareholdings are held in electronic form by the 'registrar', the company that manages the list of shareholders for each of these banks. In this case, a company called Computershare is share registrar for both banks. You can keep track of your shares and any dealings in them by registering with Computershare here for access to their online investor centre. You'll need very basic details – your unique shareholder reference number for each shareholding – which you should be able to find on communications from the companies, or from Goodbody. The key thing here is that you do not need to hold your shares through a stockbroker and, if you are not trading in shares, it makes little sense to be paying annual charges for the privilege – never mind over €700. Based on the current value of your account, as outlined in your query, the Goodbody's annual charge amounts to over 2.75 per cent, which certainly strikes me as very high, especially for an account with no activity. I cannot think of an explanation Goodbody's could provide that would make this a sensible proposition for you. Unless you plan to sell the shares now given you already appear to be paying Goodbody for the service, I would pull the plug on the Goodbody account and keep track of the shares through the Computershare Investor Centre. If you do want to sell later, you can always 'shop the market' to see who will sell them for you at the lowest charge. That brings us to the other issue – should you hold on to these shares at all? As an AIB lifer, it is not entirely surprising – if not exactly sensible – that he invested heavily n the bank's shares. Back then, he may have been able to do so at preferential rates or through some employee share programme. He was correct that it made sense to diversify given the concentration of his investment. I have no idea if he took advice at that time but the notion of diversifying from having all your investments in one bank stock by investing in the State other large listed back was mad even back then. All his eggs were still in the banking basket and we all know what happened there. People like your husband saw their savings effectively go up in smoke. In AIB's case, quite apart from the bank bailout that saw the value of his shareholding crash, he also went through the one for 250 share consolidation in 2015 that knocked a further 75 per cent of the value of his savings. In the case of Bank of Ireland, in 2017, it gave shareholder one new share for every 30 previously held but, of course, it too saw the value of existing investors' shareholdings decimated by the post-crash bailout. 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This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
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