Profile of Age, Sex, Nationality and Region Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2021

Educational Level by Age - Younger age groups have higher education levels

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Third level attainment was highest in younger age groups with 61% of 25-34 year olds and 59% of 35-44 year olds holding a third level qualification. This compares to just 34% of 60-64 year olds with a third level qualification. This reflects increased levels of participation in third level education over time. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

Table 3.1 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 15-64, classified by age group, Q2 2018- Q2 2021

Highest level of education attained	Primary or below	Lower secondary	Higher secondary	Post Leaving Certificate	Third level
15-19 years	15	60	24	1	0
20-24 years	1	2	60	8	29
25-34 years	1	5	21	13	61
35-44 years	2	6	17	16	59
45-54 years	4	11	19	15	52
55-59 years	6	16	22	16	39
60-64 years	10	19	23	14	34

Females across all 10-year age groupings had higher levels of third level attainment than males. The difference between males and females is most evident for those in the 25-44 age groups. Females aged 25-34 and 35-44 years with a third level qualification in Q2 2021 were 66% and 64% of females respectively. The equivalent rates for males were 55% for the 25-34 age group and 53% for the 35-44 age group. The gender gap of achieved third level qualification continues in older age groups but is not as significant. There was a 5-percentage point difference between the sexes at the 55-59 age group and a 7-percentage point difference between the 60-64 age group. The 60-64 age group also had a notable difference in lower secondary as their highest level of education. For this group, 23% of males aged 60-64 years had lower secondary education, compared to only 16% of females. See Table 3.2.

Table 3.2 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 15-64, classified by age group and sex, Q2 2021

Over the last ten years, there has been an increase in the proportion of those aged 25-64 year olds with a third level education, from 39% in Q2 2011 to 53% in Q2 2021. This has been accompanied by a steady decrease in the proportion with primary education/no formal education from 10% in Q2 2011 to 4% in Q2 2021. See Figure 3.2.

Highest level of education attained	Primary or below	Lower secondary	Higher secondary	Post Leaving Certificate	Third level
2011	10	14	24	13	39
2012	10	14	23	13	40
2013	9	13	23	13	42
2014	8	13	24	14	41
2015	8	12	24	13	43
2016	6	12	22	14	45
2017	5	12	22	14	47
2018	5	12	21	15	47
2019	5	11	22	15	47
2020	4	10	20	15	51
2021	4	9	20	15	53

Please note that the data in Figure 3.2 was updated on 12/10/22 as incorrect data was used when creating the graph. The text relating to third level, primary/no formal education was amended on 17/11/22 to correspond with the previous change made to the Figure 3.2.

Education Level by Nationality - non-Irish nationals have higher education levels

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Irish nationals had a lower educational attainment profile than non-Irish nationals. In Q2 2021, over half of Irish nationals (51%) aged 25-64 years old had a third level qualification. Non-Irish nationals in comparison had a third level qualification rate of 61%. Analysing it further, persons from the EU14 States (excluding Ireland) had a third level attainment rate of 76% and 'Other' nationalities (non EU27 nationalities) had a third level attainment rate of at 75%. The only nationality group with a lower rate of third level attainment than Irish nationals was the group of nationals from the 'EU15 to EU27' member states with 47% of persons from those countries living in Ireland having a third level qualification. See Table 3.3 and Figure 3.3.

Table 3.3 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by nationality, Q2 2018 - Q2 2021

Table 3.3 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by nationality, Q2 2018 - Q2 2021
% of persons
		Nationality
		Irish	Non - Irish	United Kingdom	EU14_2020 excl. IRL ²	EU15 to EU27_2020 ²	Other	All nationalities
Highest level of education attained	NFQ¹	April to June 2018
Primary or below	None/1/2	6	2	3	0	2	2	5
Lower secondary	3	13	6	15	1	6	3	12
Higher secondary	4/5	21	22	20	10	29	19	21
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	14	17	6	20	6	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	45	56	45	83	44	70	47
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	2	2	0	2	1	2
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	9	13	11	16	12	12	10
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	23	24	20	36	16	35	23
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	12	18	12	30	14	22	13
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Highest level of education attained	NFQ¹	April to June 2019
Primary or below	None/1/2	6	3	6	0	3	2	5
Lower secondary	3	12	5	10	1	7	2	11
Higher secondary	4/5	21	22	15	13	33	16	22
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	15	18	14	18	10	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	45	55	52	72	40	69	47
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	1	1	1	2	1	0	1
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	9	13	12	13	12	16	10
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	22	24	24	33	17	29	22
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	12	17	14	24	10	24	13
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Highest level of education attained	NFQ¹	April to June 2020
Primary or below	None/1/2	5	2	4	0	3	2	4
Lower secondary	3	11	4	6	1	5	3	10
Higher secondary	4/5	20	21	15	13	30	15	20
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	14	14	6	21	8	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	49	59	61	81	41	71	51
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	1	1	1	2	1	1	1
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	10	14	15	14	14	14	11
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	24	26	28	35	15	36	25
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	13	17	16	30	11	20	14
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Highest level of education attained	NFQ¹	April to June 2021
Primary or below	None/1/2	4	1	1	0	1	2	4
Lower secondary	3	11	4	13	0	2	4	9
Higher secondary	4/5	19	20	12	14	32	10	20
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	13	16	9	17	8	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	51	61	57	76	47	75	53
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	1	1	2	1	1	2
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	10	12	8	11	15	11	10
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	25	27	31	35	18	34	26
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	14	20	16	28	13	30	15
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100
¹ National Framework of Qualifications
²In light of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union with effect from 1 February 2020, the EU classification has been updated. EU14_2020 excl. IRL before Quarter 1 2020 was formally classified as EU15 excl. IRL & UK. EU15-EU27_2020 before Quarter 1 2020 was formally classified as EU15 to EU28 States.

Open in Excel: Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2021 Table 3.3 (XLS 13KB)

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Highest level of education attained	Primary or below	Lower secondary	Higher secondary	Post Leaving Certificate	Third level
Irish	4	11	19	15	51
United Kingdom	1	13	12	16	57
EU14_2021 excl. IRL	0	0	14	9	76
EU15 to EU27_2021	1	2	32	17	47
Other	2	4	10	8	75

Education Level by Region - Dublin has the highest education levels

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In Dublin, over three in five persons (61%) aged 25-64 years old had a third level qualification in Q2 2021 - this compares to 44% of persons aged 25-64 years old in both of the Border and Midland regions that have a third level qualification.

In the Border region 6% of persons aged 25-64 had a primary level education or no formal education in Q2 2021, while only 3% of persons had a primary level education or below in the West, South West and Dublin regions. See Table 3.4 and Map 1.1 and 1.2.

Table 3.4 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and NUTS3 region, Q2 2021

Table 3.4 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and NUTS3 region¹, Q2 2021
% of persons
		NUTS3 region¹
Highest level of education attained	NFQ²	Border	Dublin	Mid-East	Midland	Mid-West	South-East	South-West	West	State
Males aged 25 to 64
Primary or below	None/1/2	9	2	4	6	4	6	3	4	4
Lower secondary	3	15	10	10	15	14	13	13	12	12
Higher secondary	4/5	21	19	23	25	22	20	19	23	21
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	16	10	16	15	19	20	18	15	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	39	59	46	39	40	41	47	46	48
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	10	9	10	10	9	8	9	10	9
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	21	30	21	19	21	22	22	22	24
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	6	20	14	10	10	9	14	13	14
Total males aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Females aged 25 to 64
Primary or below	None/1/2	4	3	4	2	6	3	3	2	3
Lower secondary	3	6	7	8	7	6	10	6	7	7
Higher secondary	4/5	22	14	20	23	21	18	20	18	18
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	18	13	14	19	14	15	15	16	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	50	64	54	48	53	54	57	58	57
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	3	1	2	2	3	2	3	2	2
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	12	11	14	11	12	8	11	13	12
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	26	31	25	23	23	28	27	26	27
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	9	21	12	11	14	15	16	17	16
Total females aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

All Persons aged 25 to 64
Primary or below	None/1/2	6	3	4	4	5	4	3	3	4
Lower secondary	3	11	8	9	11	10	11	9	9	9
Higher secondary	4/5	22	16	22	24	22	19	19	21	20
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	17	11	15	17	17	17	16	15	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	44	61	50	44	46	48	52	52	53
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	3	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	11	10	12	10	10	8	10	11	10
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	23	30	23	21	22	25	24	24	26
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	8	20	13	10	12	12	15	15	15
Total persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
¹ Please see background notes for details on the new NUTS3 regions.
² National Framework of Qualifications

Open in Excel: Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2021 Table 3.4 (XLS 13KB)

Early School Leavers – number of early school leavers continues to fall

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In Q2 2021, only 3% of those aged 18-24 were defined as early school leavers (Early school leavers are persons aged 18 to 24 whose highest level of educational attainment is lower secondary or below and are not currently in education), a decrease from 12% in Q2 2005. In Q2 2021, females aged 18-24 years old were less likely than males to be classified as early school leavers (2% versus 4% respectively). See Table 3.5 and Figure 3.4.

Table 3.5 Early school leavers as a percentage of persons aged 18-24, classified by sex, Q2 2005 - Q2 2021

	Male	Female	Total
2005	16	9	12
2006	17	9	13
2007	15	8	12
2008	15	7	11
2009	15	7	11
2010	14	9	12
2011	13	8	11
2012	12	8	10
2013	11	6	8
2014	8	5	6
2015	8	5	6
2016	7	4	6
2017	7	4	5
2018	6	3	5
2019	6	4	5
2020	6	5	6
2021	4	2	3

Secondary Education level of 20-24 year olds increases over the last 10 years

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In Q2 2021, 97% of those aged 20-24 years old had attained at least a higher secondary level of education in Ireland. In Q2 2021, Females aged 20-24 years old were more likely than males to have attained at least a higher secondary level education (98% versus 96% respectively). See Table 3.6 and Figure 3.5.

Table 3.6 Percentage of persons aged 20-24 with at least a higher secondary level education, classified by sex, Q2 2011 - Q2 2021

	Male	Female	Total
2001	81	89	85
2002	80	89	84
2003	82	89	86
2004	82	89	86
2005	83	90	87
2006	81	90	86
2007	84	91	87
2008	84	92	88
2009	85	92	89
2010	86	93	90
2011	87	92	90
2012	87	92	90
2013	89	94	92
2014	92	95	93
2015	92	95	94
2016	92	96	94
2017	93	96	94
2018	93	96	95
2019	93	95	94
2020	95	94	94
2021	96	98	97

Tertiary Education Level of 30-34 year olds – more females than males have a 3rd level qualification

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The proportion of the 30-34 age group with a third level qualification has slowly increased in recent years. In Q2 2021, 61% of persons aged 30-34 years old had a third level qualification. In Q2 2001, the equivalent figure was 30%. From 2003, a gap between the sexes has been consistently seen and this continues to Q2 2021 where 66% of females hold a third level qualification compared to 57% of males. See Table 3.7 and Figure 3.6.

Table 3.7 Percentage of persons aged 30-34 with a third level qualification, classified by sex, Q2 2011 - Q2 2021

	Male	Female	Total
2001	29	31	30
2002	31	34	32
2003	36	35	35
2004	37	41	39
2005	38	43	40
2006	36	46	41
2007	38	49	43
2008	41	53	47
2009	44	56	50
2010	46	57	51
2011	45	57	51
2012	46	59	53
2013	47	59	53
2014	46	62	54
2015	45	61	53
2016	47	60	54
2017	48	63	55
2018	53	60	57
2019	50	60	55
2020	58	63	60
2021	57	66	61

Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2021