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The Athena Tracker, is an academic tracking tool that tracks all of the results of students from their entrance aptitude tests to their Leaving Certificate (LC).
The tracker has revealed some interesting statistics in relation to who is choosing agricultural science in school and who is excelling at it.
Agricultural science is the 13th most-popular subject choice for LC, and the fourth most popular science subject, with 7,745 students choosing the subject in 2019.
The percentage of female students doing science technology, engineering, maths (STEM) subjects is a closely monitored statistic.
It might surprise some people that 42% of those who choose ag science as a LC subject are female. In fact, ag science is a subject with one of the more balanced participation rates.
Furthermore, female students generally do better in ag science, with 57% receiving a H1, H2 or H3 versus 41% of male students.
Despite its popularity, however, ag science has the second-highest percentage of students receiving a H7, H8 or O7, O8 (fails).
If a student is doing ag science, they are also more likely to do construction studies and engineering than the rest of the population
It also has the second-lowest rate of students receiving the top grade at higher level, a H1, at 5%.
If a student is doing ag science, they are also more likely to do construction studies and engineering than the rest of the population.
2020 results
Similar to all of the grades awarded this year, the distribution of LC grades in ag science in 2020 looks different from other years.
The percentage of students receiving the top grade of a H1 went from 5% to 9% while the percentage of students who chose higher level who got a H7 or a H8 dropped from 21% to 3.7%.
At ordinary level, the percentage of students receiving an O1 went from 0% in 2019 to 1% in 2020 while the percentage of students receiving a O7 or O8 dropped from 27% to 10%.
Athena Tracker
Athena Analytics is a data analytics company that specialises in education. The company was founded in 2017 and now works with over 300 secondary schools. The software is constantly calculating what students with a similar exam result history went on to get in each subject. The purpose of this is that if a student falls below this projected potential at any stage, their teacher will get a notification and can see if this student requires any further support.
For further information, visit athena.ie
Emily Brick has an undergraduate degree in financial mathematics and actuarial science and a master's in statistics, both from University College Cork. She took part in the ACORNS programme in 2018 and says it was a hugely positive turning point for the business.
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