Catholic schools do better another schools on a number of measures of social inclusion according to a new study on diversity in Irish primary schools conducted by the ESRI.

The study, “School Sector Variation among Primary Schools in Ireland”, released yesterday, was commissioned by Educate Together. The findings echo those of a Department of Education audit conducted in 2008 which showed that Catholic schools had the highest levels of social inclusion across a range of measures.

It compares Catholic schools to minority faith schools and to Educate Together schools.

The research shows that while Educate Together schools are more likely to have children from non-Irish backgrounds, Catholic schools are more likely to have children from working class backgrounds, Traveller children, and children with sensory or physical disabilities.

According to the figures, both minority faith and multi-denominational schools had higher proportions of children from middle calss  backgrounds than Catholic schools.

The research also revealed that the proportion of children from lone parent families attending Catholic schools (18pc) was higher than for minority faith (nine percent) or multi-denominational schools (15pc).

The study also showed that Catholic schools were more likely to have greater numbers of Traveller pupils compared to minority faith schools, and that most multi-denominational schools did not have any Travellers.

Schools classified as being disadvantaged were more likely to have a higher proportion (classified as more than three percent of pupils) of Travellers compared to more advantaged schools schools.

Catholic schools were also more likely to cater for higher numbers of children with learning difficulties. According to the figures, multi-denominational schools were more likely than other schools to have pupils in that category (44pc, compared to 31pc in Catholic and 26pc in minority faith schools). Eleven per cent of Catholic schools reported that over 20 per cent of the pupils in the school had learning difficulties.

In addition, while Catholic schools were shown to be less likely on average to have children from different nationalities than Educate Together schools, the study acknowledged that “where Catholic schools have migrant pupils among the student body, the spread of nationalities is wider compared to the other two types of primary school.”

A 2008 Department of Education audit of schools’ enrolment policies also showed that Catholic primary schools were more likely to enrol children from the traveller community, from non-Irish backgrounds and children with special needs than other denominational and multidenominational schools.