Apprenticeship Outcomes – Qualification Year 2020

This chapter describes the employment and education destinations of qualified apprentices, and how these destinations vary across time and with the different fields of education and training. 

There are five classifications that describe graduate activities within each calendar year. 

• Employment only refers to graduates who meet minimum criteria for employment or self-employment and have no record of enrolment in higher education within the same year.
• Employment and Education corresponds to graduates that meet the criteria for substantial employment or self-employment and are enrolled in higher education at some point within the same calendar year. 
• Education only refers to graduates that are enrolled in higher education but are not classified as being in substantial employment. 
• Neither Employment nor Education comprises graduates who are neither enrolled in higher education nor are involved in substantial employment within the year but have some record in other administrative data for that year. These graduates may have some record of (non-substantial) employment or may have claimed some benefit over the year.
• The remaining individuals are categorised as Not Captured, meaning that they could not be found in any of the administrative datasets for the year in question. Most of this group are assumed to have emigrated, but there is no definitive indicator of emigration available in the administrative data sources.

An individual is regarded as being 'in employment' within a given calendar year if they fulfil either of the two criteria below.

1. Substantial PAYE Employment - They fulfil the following two requirements:
   1. They have at least 12 weeks of insurable work within the calendar year across all employments. This can be supplemented by weeks of maternity and/or illness leave.
   2. The average weekly earnings from their main employer only must be at least €100 per week;
2. Substantial Self-Employment - Their total turnover across all self-employment activities must be at least €1,000 within the calendar year.

Apprentices Destination Outcomes by Year of Qualification

Of those who qualified in 2020, more than nine in ten (92%) were in Employment only or in Employment & Education two years after qualification. Of the remaining qualified apprentices, 1.1% were in Education Only, 3.2% were in Neither Employment nor Education and 3.7% were in Not Captured.

Between 2010 and 2020, there was a 39.2 percentage point (pp) increase in the number of qualified apprentices going into employment within two years of completing their programme, from 52.8% to 92.0%. The proportion of qualified apprentices that were in Neither Employment nor Education or Not Captured also dropped significantly from 39.3% to 6.9% over the 10-year period. The share of apprentices in Education only two years after qualification dropped from 7.9% for the 2010 cohort to 1.1% for the 2020 cohort. 

Apprentices Destination Outcomes by Sex

Of the 120 female apprentices who qualified in 2020, 115 were in employment two years later, accounting for nearly 96% of all female qualified apprentices. The proportion of female qualified apprentices that were in education two years later was 12.5%.

The share of 2020 male apprentices who were in employment two years later was 92.2%, amounting to 2,360. The proportion of male qualified apprentices that were in education two years later was 15.2%.

Destination Outcomes for the 2010 Apprentices Cohort by Years since Qualification

The graph below (Figure 3.3) presents outcomes for a single cohort (2010), at intervals between two and 10 years after qualification. Clear trends emerge over time, particularly as more of this cohort are in employment. After two years, 53% were in employment, by 10 years after qualification 76% were in employment.

The proportion of apprentices in Neither in Employment nor Education also drops significantly from 17.6% in 2012 to 4.6% in 2020. The category of Not Captured records a much smaller change relative to other categories, declining from 21.7% in 2010 to 18.8% in 2020, however it was more volatile in the intervening years than other categories, peaking at 23.9% in 2014.

Apprentices Destination Outcomes by ISCED Narrow Field of Education and Training

Destination outcomes have been classified below by fields of study according to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), which is the UNESCO classification system for education and training. This classification system identifies broad, narrow (Figure 3.4) and detailed (Figure 3.5) fields of study.

With a total of 1,870 qualified apprentices, Engineering & Engineering Trades was the most popular narrow field of education and training in 2020. Of those that qualified in this field, 92.8% were in Employment only or Employment & Education two years after completion of their programme.

The second most popular narrow field of education and training by number of apprentices was Architecture & Construction with 490 qualified apprentices. Of those that qualified in this field 88.8% were in Employment only or Employment & Education two years after completion of their programme. 

Of the 185 apprentices who qualified in Business & Administration, the third most popular narrow field by numbers who qualified, close to 92% were in Employment only or Employment & Education two years later.

Apprentices Destination Outcomes by ISCED Detailed Field of Education and Training

The graph below (Figure 3.5) presents the 13 most common apprenticeships by ISCED detailed field of education and training. Electricity & Energy was the most common detailed field in 2020. Of those who qualified in this field, 990 went into employment two years later, accounting for 93% of all Electricity & Energy qualified apprentices. With a total of 185 qualified apprentices, the share of Electricity & Energy apprentices who were in education two years later was 17.4%.

Among the Motor Vehicles, Ships & Aircraft apprentices that qualified in 2020, a total of 380 were in employment two years later, representing a share of nearly 92%. Almost 11% of the Motor Vehicles, Ships & Aircraft qualified apprentices had re-enrolled in education two years after qualification.

A total of 330 Mechanics & Metal Trades qualified apprentices were in employment two years later, representing 93% of all qualifications in this field. The percentage of those who were in education two years after qualification was 14%, amounting to 50 qualified apprentices.

Apprentices Destination Outcome by Further or Higher Education

Of those who qualified in 2020 and had re-enrolled in education 2 years later, 230 were in Higher Education. Another 165 continued in Further Education, while 15 were in both Higher and Further Education.

Percentage of Qualified Apprentices in Employment by Type of Employment, Years since Qualification and Year of Qualification

For apprentices who qualified between 2016 and 2020, shown in the graph below (Figure 3.7), around 90% or more were in Employment only two years after qualification. 

Among those who qualified in 2019, one in ten were in Self-Employment two years later, while a further 2.2%, amounting to 12.2% were in Self-Employment three years after qualification.