LC Physics Stats 2025

Alongside the results, the SEC also released statistics for the Leaving Cert Students of 2025, and I had a quick look at the numbers for physics.

The total number sitting the exam was 7746, which was 12.7 % of students.

Compared to 2024, this represents a small increase in the number of students - but a slight decrease in percentage terms, from 12.9%.

Looking at longer term trends, I went back to 2019 (the last pre-covid year).

In 2019, 14.5 % of LC students studied physics, so it does look like there is a slow decline in take-up in percentage terms. That might be due to increased subject choice as much as anything else - but it's a still an issue. (Anecdotally, in my experience, computer science and PE are new, attractive options for students who might otherwise have studied physics.)

In terms of the spread of grades, the SEC has talked about unravelling grade inflation and moving slowly to pre-covid levels. But that process has only just begun, and for the moment, comparing 2025 to 2019, we can see that the higher level grades are still clearly inflated. For ordinary level, the inflation seems less marked.

From 2025

and from 2019.....

Looking at Ordinary Level,

from 2026

and from 2019