Published on 

Over 75 per cent of School Leavers go on to Higher and Further Education and Training

New statistics from the Department of Education & Skills show over 50 per cent of early leavers enrolled in further education.

New research shows that over 50 per cent of students who were enrolled in the final year of Senior Cycle in a Department of Education & Skills-supported post-primary schools in 2010 went directly to higher education. A further 28 per cent progressed to further education, training or continued second-level education. Some 10 per cent took up employment while 7 per cent had Social Welfare claims.

In another new study, DES has also tracked early leavers, who left DES-supported post-primary schools between the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 academic years. This research, which forms part of a new data series, found that 55 per cent of these early leavers went on to further education or training or continued in second-level education in Ireland such as Post-Leaving Cert (PLC) courses. A further 14 per cent were enrolled in education or training outside of the State and amongst the early leavers, 6.6 per cent had Social Welfare claims while another 6 per cent had joined the workforce during 2010.

Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., welcomed the new data series. “This new research will provide a baseline for tracking school leavers in the years ahead and will fill current data gaps. It will enhance the information used by the Department to plan for the future education needs of our school leavers.”

Data showing where school leavers went after completing the Leaving Certificate in 2010 is contained in School Completers - What’s Next? It found that of the 54,824 school leavers that year, 44per cent went on to study for a Higher Education course in a HEA funded Institution. Another 20 per cent enrolled in PLC courses and 5 per cent repeated the Leaving Certificate. An estimated 4 per cent enrolled in colleges abroad, predominantly in the UK, including Northern Ireland, just over 2 per cent were estimated to have enrolled in a non-HEA funded Institution.

The research shows that 66 per cent of students who attended fee-charging schools progressed directly to higher education compared to 47 per cent from the non-fee charging secondary sector. Some 42 per cent of students from comprehensive schools, 38 per cent from community schools and 34 per from the vocational sector progressed directly to higher education. In terms of students attending DEIS schools, some 24 per cent went onto higher education compared to 49 per cent overall from non-DEIS status schools. Over 57 per cent of pupils attending all-Irish schools also enrolled in higher education courses.

The Early Leavers - What Next? report focussed on students who left DES aided post-primary schools before enrolment in the final year of Senior Cycle and were last enrolled in the academic year 2009/2010. It shows that 57 per cent of the 7,713 early school leavers left after the Junior Certificate cycle or enrolment in Transition Year. Some 55 per cent of Early Leavers went on to further education or training or continued second-level education in Ireland. A further 13.9 per cent were enrolled in education or training outside of the State. Of those Early Leavers who did not continue in the education sector, 6.6 per cent were seen to have social welfare activity at the end of December 2010. Of the remainder, 6.1 per cent found employment during 2010.

Female early school leavers left at an earlier stage than their male classmates with over 20 per cent leaving after the first or second year of the Junior Certificate or JCSP cycle compared to less than 20 per cent of males. Another 25 per cent of females left after year three of Junior Certificate/JCSP compared to 21 per cent of males.

Notes to Editors

Please see following links to the reports:

http://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Re-use-of-Public-Sector-Information/Library/Announcements/Early-Leavers-What-Next-Press-office-version-.pdf

http://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Re-use-of-Public-Sector-Information/Library/Announcements/School-Completers-What-Next-Press-office-version-.pdf

These two reports are the first in a series of reports by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) that track school leavers a year after they leave school. This evidence-based research has been compiled using the Higher Education Authority (HEA) Student Record System, the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) awards database (now the Quality and Qualifications Ireland), the FÁS dataset, the Central Records System of the Department of Social Protection and P35 files (employer end-of-year returns) from the Revenue.