Ministers Foley and Harris publish Education Indicators for Ireland 2021 report

The Minister for Education, Norma Foley, and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, announce the publication of Education Indicators for Ireland 2021 – which presents a comprehensive set of educational indicators for the education system in Ireland.

The indicators in this report cover all levels of education starting with early years and working through school education, further and higher education and through to lifelong learning. In doing so, the report provides an overview of the work of both the Department of Education and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

This updated report provides data up to and including the school/academic year 2020-2021 (where possible) as well as a look back at how our education system has progressed over the five years 2016-2020.

Among the topics covered in the report are:

school types
Leaving Certificate pathways
special education
access to higher education
graduate numbers
further education and training enrolments

This report presents a snapshot of the whole education system at a single point in time while also charting our progress over the past 5 years.

Minister Foley said:

“I welcome the publication of today’s report which presents us with a snapshot of the whole education system and is an invaluable tool in formulating future policy.

“I think it is heartening to see that a number of key indicators are continuing to trend in a positive direction, particularly the pupil-teacher ratio and the retention rates for students in DEIS schools.

“As Minister for Education I am entrusted with ensuring the opportunities that are possible through education are available to all students – cherishing the individual talents of each child and young person in our care, nurturing their learning and building the next generation of citizens in our society.

“We will continue to work to further address these key areas and ensure that there is progress right across the education sector.”

Minister Harris said:

“This report offers an important opportunity to assess what we have achieved, and also what more needs to be done to create a world class education landscape in Ireland.

“I am pleased to note that the numbers on apprenticeships are increasing, which ties in with our goal of registering 10,000 new apprentices annually by 2025. In fact, 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.

“I am also thrilled to see that an increasing number of students are progressing to post-graduate research studies. Research plays a pivotal role in society, and we need researchers to develop ideas that can create the sort of inclusive, equitable and sustainable Ireland we want to see.

"One of my key priorities is removing barriers to third level education. This report confirms transition rates rose to 66.1% in 2020, up from 62.1% in 2019. Among DEIS schools the rate was 46.7%, which is an improvement but leaves us with much more work to do throughout 2022."

Findings

Primary and Post-primary education

the retention rate to the Leaving Certificate in DEIS schools stood at 84.8% for the 2014 entry cohort, up from 83.8% on the previous year, while the gap in retention between DEIS and non-DEIS schools fell to 8.6%, down from 9.3% in 2019
the total number of teachers has risen by over 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
the number of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream primary have risen substantially in recent years, from 4,836 in 2016 to 7,510 in 2020, while the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) has increased from 12,634 in 2016 to 17,713 in 2020
the percentage of schools offering at least 2 foreign languages is increasing, as is the percentage taking a foreign language other than French in the Leaving Certificate

Further and Higher Education

the number of persons on apprenticeships is rising strongly, up from 10,445 in 2016 to 19,630 in 2020
the number of NFQ level 8 (undergraduate) entry routes rose to 883 in 2020, up from 843 in 2019
the total number of post-graduate researchers has risen from 9,802 in 2016 to 11,199 in 2020, of which females accounted for 5,983 (PhD and Research Masters, full and part-time)

Education Indicators for Ireland 2021 report

Notes

The data for 2020 inspections reflects adjustments to the inspection programme from March 2020 due to the pandemic. The main focus of the programme was on advisory sessions and research work to support schools during the period of school closure and as the return to school took place.