Irish Law School Rankings 2012 - By Entering Student Credentials

Since we are in rankings season, below is a ranking of law schools in Ireland based on the entering credentials of the 2012 class. This is obviously only one measure of how good a law school is, but I think it is an important measure because student quality (to the extent that CAO points are a measure of quality) has a direct bearing on the educational experience. It might also have some predictive value for the quality of lawyers a law school produces, their ability to get jobs upon graduation, and ultimately success in the profession.

The table below lists the ranking for the main law degrees offered by all the law schools in Ireland:

Ranking		Law School			CAO Points
1		Trinity College Dublin			525
2		University College Dublin			495
3		NUI Maynooth			475
=		University College Cork			475
5		Dublin City University			410
6		NUI Galway			405
=		Limerick			405
8		Dublin Institute of Technology			350
9		IT Carlow			305
=		Griffith College			305
11		Waterford IT			295
12		Dublin Business School			230

It is my sense that while there would be movement between the top 4 if other factors like research, employment prospects, average income, peer reputation, etc., are included, there seems to be an emerging divide between these schools and the others. It remains to be seen if this two tier system survives the serious challenges facing Irish higher education.

The table below ranks the law and business programs offered by all the law schools in Ireland:

Ranking		Law School		CAO Points
1		Trinity College Dublin		565
2		University College Dublin		495
3		NUI Maynooth		460
4		Dublin Institute of Technology		400
5		IT Carlow		315
6		Athlone Institute of Technology		270
7		Griffith College		250
8		Dublin Business School		235

I have not provided a ranking for the smaller "law and X" programs offered by some law schools because the trend seems to be against such fragmented degrees.