Measuring Ireland's Progress 2013

• Real expenditure per student, (i.e., expenditure adjusted for inflation), increased by 9.6% at primary level and by 5.5% at second level over the period 2004-2013.
• However at third level there was a decrease of over a fifth (-20.4%) in real expenditure per student over the same time period.
• Real expenditure per student in 2013 at primary level was 77% that at third level.
• In 2004 real expenditure per student at second level was just over three-quarters (76.6%) that at third level but by 2013 it stood at €8,252, more than the third level expenditure of €8,126.
• Current public expenditure on education in real prices rose by 15.6% between 2004 and 2013, from €6,810 million to €7,869 million.

• The number of primary level students increased strongly by nearly a fifth (18.6%) between 2004 and 2013, rising from 447,337 to 530,380.
• Between 2004 and 2006 the number of second level students dropped from 336,775 to 332,929. Over the following seven years the numbers increased steadily to stand at 364,579 in 2013, an increase of 8.3% on the 2004 figure.
• The number of full-time equivalent third level students increased by nearly a fifth (19.1%) between 2004 and 2013, rising from 158,297 to 188,594.

• Public expenditure on education in Ireland was 6.2% of GDP in 2011, above the EU average of 5.3%, and the seventh highest in the EU.
• Ireland had the fourth highest expenditure on education in 2011 when calculated as a percentage of GNI.
• When expenditure is examined per pupil/student in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS), Ireland had the eighth highest expenditure in the EU in 2011.

• Ireland had a student to teacher ratio of 16.2 in primary education in 2012. This was the eighth highest ratio in the EU. The lowest ratio was 9.2 in Luxembourg while the highest was 21.1 in the United Kingdom.
• The overall student to teacher ratio for primary and secondary level education for Ireland in 2012 was 15.7 which was the third highest out of the 27 countries in the EU for which data was available.
• The highest overall student to teacher ratio for primary and secondary level education was 17.8 in the United Kingdom while the lowest was in Lithuania at 8.1.
• Ireland had the fifth highest student to teacher ratio for upper secondary education at 15, while the lowest ratio was in Greece at 7.3 and the highest was in the Netherlands at 36.9.

• The average class size in Ireland for primary education was 24.4, the second highest among reporting EU countries, after the United Kingdom at 25.1.
• The lowest average class size for primary education was 15.2 in Lithuania.
• At lower secondary level, Ireland had the joint eighth lowest average class size at 20.3. The lowest was in Latvia in 14.9 while the highest was in France at 25.1.

• Close to half (48.5%) of the population aged 25-34 in Ireland had third level education in 2013. This was the third highest rate in the EU and compares with 35.8% across the EU as a whole.
• In both Lithuania and Cyprus more than half of the population aged 25-34 had a third level qualification in 2013.
• More females than males aged 25-34 had third level education in all EU countries with Latvia having the highest percentage points differential of 25.1.
• In Ireland over half (54.3%) of females aged 25-34 had a third level qualification, compared to 42.3% of males.
• The proportion of the population aged 25-34 in Ireland with third level education has risen steadily in recent years, from 39.6% in 2004 to 48.5% in 2013, an increase of nearly 9 percentage points. (See chart for data.)

• Ireland had the 8th highest mathematical literacy for 15 year old students among participating EU countries in 2012, with a score of 501, above the OECD average of 494. The highest scores in the EU were in the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.
• In reading literacy, Ireland had the second highest score in 2012 among participating EU countries, with a score of 523 and was well above the OCED average of 496. The highest score in the EU was in Finland at 524.
• Ireland ranked joint 5th highest for scientific literacy with a score of 522, compared to an OECD average of 501. Finland, Estonia and Poland had the highest scores in the EU for scientific literacy.

• About one in twelve of those aged 18-24 in Ireland had left school with, at most, lower secondary education in 2013.
• The EU average was 12% and varied from 3.7% in Croatia to 23.6% in Spain.
• 9.8% of males aged 18-24 in Ireland had left school early while the rate for females was lower at 6.9%.
• The proportion of males aged 18-24 who left school early is higher than females in all EU countries except Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

• Ireland had the second highest proportion of mathematics, science and technology graduates in the EU in 2012.
• The proportion of graduates in these disciplines was 22.5 per 1,000 of the population aged 20-29 in Ireland, compared with an EU figure of 17.1.
• The proportion of male graduates in mathematics, science and technology in Ireland, at 33 per 1,000 of the population aged 20-29, was the highest in the EU.
• The proportion of females graduates, at 12.6 per 1,000 of the population aged 20-29, was the eighth highest in the EU.
• The proportion of male graduates in mathematics, science and technology in Ireland grew from 31.7 per 1,000 of the population aged 20-29 in 2003 to 34.3 in 2005. It then dropped down to 23 in 2009 before increasing to 33 by 2012, (see graph).
• The proportion of female graduates fell from 16.8 per 1,000 of the population aged 20-29 in 2003 to 10 by 2009 before increasing to 12.6 in 2012.

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