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Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2024

Profile of Age, Sex, Nationality and Region

Online ISSN: 2811-6054

CSO statistical release, 13 November 2024, 11am

This chapter examines the connection between educational attainment levels and various sociodemographic factors. It shows that participation in third level education has increased over time for both sexes and females having a higher educational attainment level rate than males. It will also be seen that non-Irish nationals have a higher third level attainment rate than Irish nationals and the Dublin region has highest third level attainment level of all NUTS3 regions in the State.

Over 6 in 10 (65%) of 25-34 year olds have a third level qualification

Main findings for education levels by age group:

Third level attainment was highest in younger age groups, with 61% of 35-44 year olds holding a third level qualification and 65% of 25-34 year olds.
The age cohort in 25-64 year olds with the lowest third level attainment are the 60-64 years olds with 38%, this reflects increased levels of participation in third level education over time. See Figure 3.1 and Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 15-64, classified by age group, Q2 2021 - Q2 2024

Females across all age groupings had higher levels of third level attainment than males

Main findings for education levels by sex:

Amongst females, those aged 25-34 and 35-44 years had were the age cohorts with the highest third level attainment rates in Q2 2024, at 68% and 66%.
Males aged 25-34 had a third level attainment rate of 62% compared with 56% for the 35-44 years age group.
The gap between males and females in third-level attainment continues in older age groups but is lowest (5% point difference) in the 55-59 age group. See Table 3.2.

Table 3.2 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 15-64, classified by age group and sex, Q2 2024

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 43% in Q2 2014 to 56% in Q2 2024.
This has been accompanied by a steady decrease in the proportion with primary education/no formal education from 7% in Q2 2014 to 3% in Q2 2024. See Figure 3.2 and Table 3.3.

Table 3.3 Persons aged 25-64 years classified by highest educational attainment, Q2 2014 - Q2 2024

Non-Irish nationals have higher education levels

Main findings for education levels by nationality:

In Q2 2024, over half of Irish nationals (53%) aged 25-64 years old had a third level qualification.
Non-Irish nationals living in the Ireland had a third level qualification rate of 67%.
The nationality group with the lowest rate of third level attainment is the group of nationals from the 'EU-15 to EU-27' member states, with 45% of persons from those countries living in Ireland having a third level qualification. See Figure 3.3 and Table 3.4.

Table 3.4 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by nationality, Q2 2021 - Q2 2024

Table 3.4 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by nationality, Q2 2021 - Q2 2024¹
% of persons
		Nationality
Highest level of education attained	NFQ²	Irish	Non-Irish	United Kingdom	EU14_2020 excl. IRL³	EU15 to EU27_2020³	Other	All nationalities
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	20	20	14	14	33	11	20
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	12	15	9	17	8	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	51	63	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	28	31	35	18	34	26
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	14	21	16	28	12	30	15
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100

April to June 2022
Primary or below	None/1/2	4	2	5	1	3	2	3
Lower secondary	3	10	3	10	1	3	1	9
Higher secondary	4/5	19	20	14	10	37	9	19
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	12	18	7	19	6	15
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	51	63	53	81	38	81	54
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	1	2	2	1	1	2
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	12	12	12	14	11	11	12
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	23	26	25	29	14	37	24
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	15	24	14	36	13	31	16
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100

April to June 2023
Primary or below	None/1/2	4	1	3	1	2	1	3
Lower secondary	3	10	3	12	2	3	2	8
Higher secondary	4/5	20	20	21	13	35	11	20
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	10	13	5	19	6	14
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	51	65	50	79	42	80	54
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	1	1	0	2	0	2
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	11	13	12	14	13	14	11
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	23	29	22	37	16	38	24
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	15	22	15	28	12	28	17
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100

April to June 2024
Primary or below	None/1/2	3	1	2	0	2	1	3
Lower secondary	3	9	3	9	2	4	1	8
Higher secondary	4/5	19	20	19	12	35	12	19
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	15	9	12	9	14	6	13
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	53	67	58	77	45	80	56
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	1	3	1	1	0	1
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	11	15	17	13	14	15	12
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	24	28	20	31	16	37	25
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	16	23	18	32	14	28	18
All persons aged 25 to 64		100	100	100	100	100	100	100
¹Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.
² National Framework of Qualifications.
³In 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 2024 Table 3.4 (XLS 13KB)

Visit Table EDQ10 on PxStat

Dublin has highest third-level education level for 25-64 year olds

Main findings for education levels by region:

In Dublin, over three in five persons (65%) aged 25-64 years old had a third level qualification in Q2 2024.
The Midlands has the lowest level of persons with a third level education at 43% of those aged 25-64.
In the Border region, 6% of persons aged 25-64 had a primary level education only or no formal education in Q2 2024, while all the other regions had a rate of 5% or below of persons with a primary level education only or no formal education. See Maps 3.1, 3.2, and Table 3.5.

Table 3.5 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and NUTS3 region, Q2 2024

Table 3.5 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and NUTS3 region¹, Q2 2024²
% of persons
		NUTS3 region¹
Highest level of education attained	NFQ³	Border	Dublin	Mid-East	Midlands	Mid-West	South-East	South-West	West	State
Males aged 25 to 64
Primary or below	None/1/2	9	2	2	4	4	6	1	4	3
Lower secondary	3	16	7	9	12	11	14	10	9	10
Higher secondary	4/5	24	17	23	25	22	20	21	22	21
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	13	10	13	19	16	20	16	10	14
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	39	64	52	40	47	40	52	54	52
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	1	1
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	12	11	13	13	9	7	11	12	11
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	15	29	22	15	22	18	24	24	23
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	10	23	16	11	13	13	15	18	17
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	2	3	4	1	4	1	2	2
Lower secondary	3	5	6	5	6	7	8	6	5	6
Higher secondary	4/5	21	16	20	27	18	17	16	18	18
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	13	11	14	17	15	14	15	13	13
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	56	66	58	47	58	57	61	62	60
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	1	1	2	2	3	2	2	2
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	16	12	15	14	12	16	12	15	13
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	26	29	24	18	30	23	28	26	27
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	13	24	18	13	14	16	19	20	19
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	2	2	4	3	5	1	3	3
Lower secondary	3	11	6	7	9	9	11	8	7	8
Higher secondary	4/5	22	17	21	26	20	18	19	20	19
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	13	10	14	18	16	17	16	12	13
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	48	65	55	43	53	49	56	58	56
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	2	1	1	2	2	3	2	2	1
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	14	11	14	14	11	12	11	13	12
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	20	29	23	16	26	20	26	25	25
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	11	23	17	12	14	14	17	19	18
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.
²Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.
³ National Framework of Qualifications.

Open in Excel: Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2024 Table 3.5 (XLS 13KB)

Visit Table EDQ03 on PxStat

Secondary education level in 20-24 year olds - Higher in females than males

Main findings for secondary education levels in 20-24 year olds:

In Q2 2024, 97% of those aged 20-24 years old had attained at least a higher secondary level of education in Ireland.
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 Figure 3.4 and Table 3.6.

Table 3.6 Percentage of persons aged 20-24 with at least a higher secondary level education, classified by sex, Q2 2014 - Q2 2024

Nearly 7 in 10 (66%) of 30-34 year olds have a third level qualification

Main findings for tertiary education levels in 30-34 year olds:

In Q2 2024, 66% of persons aged 30-34 years old had a third level qualification. In Q2 2004, the equivalent figure was 39%.
From 2004, a gap between the sexes has been consistently seen and this continues to Q2 2024 where 69% of females hold a third level qualification compared to 62% of males. See Figure 3.5 and Table 3.7.

Table 3.7 Percentage of persons aged 30-34 with a third level qualification, classified by sex, Q2 2014 - Q2 2024

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Table 3.6 Percentage of persons aged 20-24 with at least a higher secondary level education¹, classified by sex, Q2 2014 - Q2 2024²
% of persons
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Male	92	92	92	93	93	93	95	96	93	93	96
Female	95	95	96	96	96	95	94	97	97	96	98
All persons	93	94	94	94	95	94	94	97	95	95	97
¹ See background notes for definition of a higher secondary level education.
²Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.

Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2024

Profile of Age, Sex, Nationality and Region

Profile of Age, Sex, Nationality and Region

Over 6 in 10 (65%) of 25-34 year olds have a third level qualification

Females across all age groupings had higher levels of third level attainment than males

Non-Irish nationals have higher education levels

Dublin has highest third-level education level for 25-64 year olds

Secondary education level in 20-24 year olds - Higher in females than males

Nearly 7 in 10 (66%) of 30-34 year olds have a third level qualification

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Table 3.1 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 15-64, classified by age group, Q2 2021 - Q2 2024
% of persons
	Highest level of education attained/NFQ¹
						Third Level, *of which:*
	Primary or below	Lower secondary	Higher secondary	Post Leaving Certificate	Third level (in total)	Higher Certificate or equivalent	Ordinary Degree or equivalent	Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	Postgraduate qualification
	None/1/2	3	4/5	4/5/6	6/7/8/9/10	6	7	8	9/10	Total
April to June 2021
15-19 years	15	60	24	1	0	0	0	0	0	100
20-24 years	1	2	60	8	29	0	5	21	3	100
25-34 years	1	5	20	13	61	1	8	34	18	100
35-44 years	2	6	17	16	59	2	12	28	18	100
45-54 years	4	11	19	15	52	2	11	23	15	100
55-59 years	6	16	22	16	39	2	11	17	9	100
60-64 years	10	19	23	14	34	2	9	15	7	100
All persons aged 15 to 64	5	14	24	13	45	1	9	23	12	100

April to June 2022
15-19 years	21	56	22	1	0	0	0	0	0	100
20-24 years	1	4	56	9	29	1	5	19	5	100
25-34 years	1	3	19	13	64	1	11	31	20	100
35-44 years	2	6	18	15	59	2	12	26	19	100
45-54 years	3	10	18	16	53	3	13	22	16	100
55-59 years	6	17	23	17	38	2	10	15	11	100
60-64 years	9	19	23	13	35	2	10	14	9	100
All persons aged 15 to 64	5	13	23	13	46	2	10	21	14	100

April to June 2023
15-19 years	21	57	21	1	0	0	0	0	0	100
20-24 years	2	4	58	9	27	1	5	18	4	100
25-34 years	2	3	21	12	62	1	10	32	19	100
35-44 years	2	6	18	14	60	1	12	28	20	100
45-54 years	3	9	20	15	53	2	13	22	16	100
55-59 years	6	15	23	15	41	2	11	16	12	100
60-64 years	9	19	24	14	35	3	10	13	9	100
All persons aged 15 to 64	5	13	24	12	46	1	10	21	14	100

April to June 2024
15-19 years	22	57	19	1	0	0	0	0	0	100
20-24 years	0	3	61	9	27	1	5	19	2	100
25-34 years	2	3	18	12	65	1	11	30	23	100
35-44 years	2	5	18	15	61	1	13	28	19	100
45-54 years	3	9	19	13	57	2	14	24	17	100
55-59 years	4	16	23	14	44	2	11	17	14	100
60-64 years	7	18	25	13	38	3	11	15	10	100
All persons aged 15 to 64	5	13	23	12	48	1	10	22	15	100
¹ National Framework of Qualifications.

Table 3.2 Highest level of education attained by persons aged 15-64, classified by age group and sex, Q2 2024
% of persons
	Highest level of education attained /NFQ¹
						Third Level, *of which:*
	Primary or below	Lower secondary	Higher secondary	Post Leaving Certificate	Third level (in total)	Higher Certificate or equivalent	Ordinary Degree or equivalent	Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	Postgraduate qualification
	None/1/2	3	4/5	4/5/6	6/7/8/9/10	6	7	8	9/10	Total
Males aged 15 to 64
15-19 years	23	57	19	1	0	0	0	0	0	100
20-24 years	1	4	64	9	23	1	5	15	2	100
25-34 years	2	3	21	13	62	1	10	29	22	100
35-44 years	2	7	20	15	56	1	12	25	18	100
45-54 years	4	11	20	13	52	2	13	23	15	100
55-59 years	4	19	22	12	41	1	10	17	12	100
60-64 years	8	21	22	14	35	2	9	14	10	100
All males aged 15 to 64	5	14	25	12	44	1	9	20	14	100

Females aged 15 to 64
15-19 years	21	58	20	1	0	0	0	0	0	100
20-24 years	0	2	58	8	31	0	5	23	3	100
25-34 years	1	2	16	12	68	1	12	32	24	100
35-44 years	1	3	16	14	66	1	14	31	20	100
45-54 years	2	7	18	13	61	2	15	26	18	100
55-59 years	4	12	23	15	46	3	11	17	15	100
60-64 years	5	14	27	12	41	3	13	15	10	100
All females aged 15 to 64	4	11	22	12	52	1	11	24	16	100

All persons aged 15 to 64
15-19 years	22	57	19	1	0	0	0	0	0	100
20-24 years	0	3	61	9	27	1	5	19	2	100
25-34 years	2	3	18	12	65	1	11	30	23	100
35-44 years	2	5	18	15	61	1	13	28	19	100
45-54 years	3	9	19	13	57	2	14	24	17	100
55-59 years	4	16	23	14	44	2	11	17	14	100
60-64 years	7	18	25	13	38	3	11	15	10	100
All persons aged 15 to 64	5	13	23	12	48	1	10	22	15	100
¹ National Framework of Qualifications.