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Apprenticeships are programmes which provide structured education and training in a craft trade or profession. While undertaking an apprenticeship, a learner alternates between on-the-job employer-based training and off-the-job training in an education or training centre.
Since 2016, two types of apprenticeships have been available in Ireland: craft apprenticeships and consortia-led apprenticeships. Craft apprenticeships offer training in traditional craft trades such as plumbing or carpentry and typically last for four years with alternating on and off-the-job training.
Consortia-led apprenticeships are a new type of apprenticeship introduced in 2016 with first qualifications recorded in 2019 and were created as a collaboration between industry and education and training providers in response to industry needs. The consortia-led apprenticeships cover a large breadth of fields of education and training such as finance, ICT, hospitality and industrial engineering. Their duration varies between two and four years.
The number of qualified apprentices fluctuated significantly between 2010 and 2020. In 2011 the number of qualified apprentices in Ireland was at its highest, amounting to a total of 3,820 people. Over the following five years, there was a gradual drop in the numbers and by 2016 there was a total of 1,220 apprenticeship completions, representing less than a third of the 2011 completions.
After 2016, the number of qualified apprentices steadily rose, with a total of 2,685 apprentices qualifying in 2020. Of these, 2,390 apprentices qualified in a craft-type apprenticeship, accounting for 90% of the 2020 qualified apprentices. The remaining 295 successfully completed apprenticeships were consortia-led and amounted to 10% of the total apprenticeship awards.
Approximately 50% of all the qualified apprentices in 2020 were aged under 26 years. The vast majority of qualified apprentices (95.5%) in 2020 were male. While males outnumbered females in most age categories, the difference is most pronounced in those aged 15-25 with 1,325 males and 35 females. Of all female qualified apprentices, about 71% were aged over 25 at the time of qualification, compared with 48% of males.
The most common field of apprenticeships in 2020 was Engineering & Engineering Trades, accounting for 70% of all qualified apprentices, while 18% of qualified apprentices were in the field of Architecture & Construction. The most common consortia-led apprenticeship type was in Business & Administration, accounting for almost 7% of all completed apprenticeships in 2020. Note that this type of programme was introduced in 2016.
The number of qualified apprentices who completed Engineering & Engineering Trades apprenticeships nearly doubled, from 970 in 2016 to 1,875 in 2020. Apprenticeships completed in the field of Architecture & Construction also more than doubled, from 230 in 2016 to 490 in 2020.
More than nine out of ten apprentices (95%) who qualified in 2020 completed their programmes at NFQ Level 6, amounting to 2,555 people. Of the remaining 5%, 60 apprenticeships were completed at NFQ Level 7 with the remaining 65 at NFQ Level 8.
The number of qualified apprentices at NFQ 6 increased from 1,220 in 2016 to 2,555 in 2020, with only a slight decline between 2018 and 2019, from 1,925 to 1,900. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of qualified apprentices at NFQ Levels 7 and 8 more than doubled from 60 to 125.
More than one in five qualified apprentices (22.1%) in 2020 were from County Dublin, amounting to 585 apprentices. County Cork recorded the second highest number of qualified apprentices, at 330, representing 12.5%, while 145 (5%) of all qualified apprentices were from County Meath.
Note that the numbers shown here only capture qualified apprentices whose Irish county of residence was recorded at registration. Therefore, qualified apprentices who did not have their county of residence recorded or their residence was outside Ireland (including Northern Ireland) are excluded.
Businesses have been classified by size based on the number of employees as follows: micro (less than 10), small (between 10 and 49), medium (between 50 and 249), and large (more than 250). About four in ten of the apprentices who qualified in 2020 in Manufacturing & Processing and Business & Administration were working in a large business during their year of qualification. Some 44% of apprentices who completed their Architecture & Construction programmes in 2020 were working in micro-sized businesses. More than half (51.5%) of the apprentices who qualified in Engineering & Engineering Trades were employed in medium or large-sized businesses.
Note that only qualified apprentices with valid business identifiers on the registration dataset and which could be linked to a business size were included here. Further details are provided in the Background Notes.
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