Some 57% of the 2022 Early Learning Care (ELC) graduates worked in the ELC sector in the year prior to graduation, almost double the proportion of the 2013 group, at 30%.
Nine in ten 2022 ELC graduates were in substantial employment in the first year after graduation.
Around 77% of the graduates in 2022 who re-enrolled in a course proceeded to a higher NFQ Level.
The majority of graduates were employed in the ELC sector one year after graduation, with this proportion rising from 55% for 2013 graduates to 73% for 2022 graduates.
Almost 72% of the 2021 graduates who were employed one year after graduation in the ELC Sector stayed with the same employer in the following year, with an additional 16% changing employer within the ELC Sector.
The median earnings for the 2022 graduates were €465 per week.
The graduates in 2022 with the highest median weekly earnings one year after graduation were those working in Non-ELC Health & Education at €580, followed by those working in the ELC sector at €465.
ELC 2022 graduates at NFQ Levels 7 and 8 (ordinary and honours bachelor's degrees) had the highest median weekly earnings of €510 and €540, respectively.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (22 December 2025) published Early Learning Care Graduate Outcomes 2022. This is the second release on the outcomes of Early Learning Care graduates, with the previous release covering the 2013-2017 graduates.
The graduates included in this release completed courses in Ireland aimed at obtaining a qualification which is recognised as meeting the requirements of the Child Care Act (1991) and related regulations. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth assesses and approves qualifications for inclusion on the official list of Early Years qualifications recognised as meeting the requirements. The qualifications included in this release are at Levels 5 to 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).
Administrative data from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) were used to compile course lists and learner details. Other administrative data sources including employment data from the Revenue Commissioners and payments data from the Department of Social Protection were used to derive employment sectors and outcome profiles for the graduate groups.
Commenting on the release, Anais Colibaba, Statistician in the Statistical Systems Coordination Unit, said: “This release measures the employment and education outcomes for Early Learning Care (ELC) graduates who completed their course between 2013 and 2022. Areas examined in this release include employment, re-enrolment in education, the sectors that ELC graduates work in, as well as their median weekly earnings and number of distinct employers.
Overall Results
The number of ELC graduates fluctuated significantly between 2013 and 2022. In 2015, the number of ELC graduates in Ireland was at its highest, amounting to a total of 6,345 people. This fell to 4,605 ELC course graduates in 2022. Of these, 4,480 (97%) were female graduates, with the remaining 125 (3%) being male graduates. Almost four in ten (38.2%) of 2022 graduates completed a NFQ Level 6 course.
Approximately 57% of the 2022 graduates who were in substantial employment in the year prior to graduation were already working in the ELC sector. Graduates in the "56-65 years" age group were most likely to have been working in the ELC sector, at 75%.
Employment Outcomes
Close to nine in ten (89.1%) of the graduates who completed their course in 2022 were in employment one year after graduation, a 25% increase compared with those who graduated in 2013.
The proportion of qualified apprentices that were in Neither Employment nor Education or Not Captured (presumed emigrated) dropped significantly from 17.6% to 7.4% between 2013 and 2022.
Earnings
The median weekly earnings of graduates who completed their course in 2022 and were in employment one year later were €465. However, there were notable differences in the median weekly earnings across the employment sectors.
Those working in the Non-ELC sector had the highest median weekly earnings (€580), followed by those working in the ELC sector (€465). In terms of NFQ Level, those who graduated from a NFQ Level 8 course had median weekly earnings of €540, compared with €380 for those who completed a NFQ Level 5 course.
Education Outcomes
About 33% of the graduates in 2022 were enrolled in education one year after their course completion, representing 1,505 graduates. Of those, more than 77% opted for a course at a higher NFQ Level.
Commenting further on how this release was developed, Rob Kelly, Senior Statistician, said: “This release was produced using a statistical framework known as the Educational Longitudinal Database (ELD) developed by the CSO. This framework is produced by matching datasets from the Education sector to other public sector datasets which describe learner outcomes in subsequent years. In this regard, the CSO treats all data with strict confidentiality and never discloses any data that could subsequently be associated with any person or business. We have compiled these new statistics using anonymised records and will only produce statistical results at an aggregate level. This means no individual can ever be identified from the data we utilise.”