Sharp rise in number of third-level students in 2020, report shows

The number of students who went on to third-level education jumped “sharply” in 2020, as the pandemic hit employment and foreign travel opportunities for school leavers, according to a new report.

The percentage of second-level students who went on to higher education was 66.1 per cent in 2020, up from 62.1 per cent the previous year, according to the Education Indicators for Ireland 2021 report, which has just been published.

For Deis schools – schools with a higher proportion of children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds – the percentage of students who progressed to higher education was 46.7 per cent, up from 41.4 per cent in 2019.

The number of places in higher education was increased in 2020 in response to the pandemic and the introduction of predicted grades for Leaving Cert students.

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At the same time the percentage of foreign students in the Irish higher education system dropped, falling to 11.7 per cent, having been 14 per cent in 2019.

In a statement issued with the report Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said he was pleased to note the number of people on apprenticeships was increasing.

The target is to be registering 10,000 new apprenticeships annually by 2025.

“As of last week, we achieved over 8,000 registrations so far this year, so the message is clearly getting out there that there are multiple educational pathways available.”

The Minister said he was “thrilled” at the increase in students going on to postgraduate research studies.

The report shows that the number of postgraduate research enrolments rose to 11,199 in 2020, up from 10,529 in 2019.

The number of full-time PhDs enrolments in 2020 was 7,938, up from 7,357 the previous year.

The number of students in primary schools that had a primarily Catholic ethos fell slightly in 2020, to 89.1 per cent from 90.1 per cent the previous year, while the percentage in Irish-medium schools remained steady at 8.1 per cent.

For post-primary schools the percentage of students in mainly Catholic ethos schools was 50.1 per cent in 2020, down from 50.5 per cent the previous year.

Enrolments

The report said that while enrolments in secondary schools are up, the absolute number of early school leavers remained fairly steady.

The percentage of students in Deis schools who completed the Leaving Cert was 84.8 per cent last year, up slightly on 2019, the report shows.

Overall, enrolments in primary level are on a downward trajectory, having peaked in 2018, while those in post-primary continue to rise sharply, up 25,000 in 2016-2020.

Enrolments in full-time higher education are also rising quickly, showing an increase of almost 16,000 between 2016 and 2020, according to the report.

The total number of teachers has risen by more than 7,000 since 2016, from 61,942 to 69,343. The pupil-teacher ratio has fallen from 15.7 to 14.5 since 2016 while in post-primary it has fallen from 13.4 to 12.3.

"I think it is heartening to see that a number of key indicators are continuing to trend in a positive direction," Minister for Education Norma Foley said in relation to the report.

She said the department would continue to work on further improvements in areas such as the pupil-teacher ratio, and the student retention rates for Deis schools.