This chapter looks at those non-progressors who were in substantial employment in the years after non-progression. Importantly, unless otherwise specified, this includes those non-progressors who were in employment only and those who were in both employment and education, where the employment met the threshold for substantial employment.
Please note that in some cases categories referring to fewer than 50 total persons have not been included in the plots and commentary below, as this can result in volatile percentage shares. Any excluded categories are noted below the affected plot(s) and all counts can nevertheless be inspected in the relevant PxStat table.
For those non-progressors in the latest cohort who were substantially employed, the sector with the most non-progressors working in it was the ‘Wholesale and Retail Trade (G)’ sector, in which 1,170 non-progressors were working. This was followed by ‘Accommodation & Food Service Activities (I)’, which employed around 770 non-progressors. Collectively, these two sectors therefore accounted for around 53% of those who were in substantial employment one year on.
There were some notable differences by gender. For female non-progressors, Human Health and Social Work Activities (Q) was the third most common sector in which to be employed, but ranking the sectors in the same way for male non-progressors this was the 11th. Conversely, ‘Construction (F)’ was the third-most common sector for males, but the 11th for female non-progressors.
Investigating how the sector of employment varied by the course they initially pursued, it can be examined whether non-progressors were employed in sectors related to their initial field of study.
Of the 260 non-progressors from Information and Communication Technologies courses who were employed, only around 2% (5 persons) were employed in the Information and communication (J) sector. Similarly, although the overall number of non-progressors in this field of study was low, 0% (0 persons) of those originally enrolled on Education courses were employed in the Education (P) sector.
However, around 20% of those in substantial employment who did not progress in Health and Welfare courses were nevertheless employed in Human Health and Social Work Activities (Q). Likewise, 33% of those originally studying in the domain of Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction were employed across either Industry (B to E) or Construction (F).
For comparable analysis of graduates, please refer to the latest Higher Education Outcomes release.
Overall, the median weekly earnings of non-progressors in the latest year analysed stood at €430 per week in the year after they did not progress. This was greater than for the earliest cohort examined (2017/18), whose median weekly earnings after the same time were €350. Although earnings were similar, those non-progressors who had originally been enrolled on courses at NFQ Level 7 generally showed the highest median weekly earnings; in the latest cohort, the median earnings of this group were €435, with lower earnings for those at NFQ Level 6 (€425) and NFQ Level 8 (€425).
Note that as one year after non-progression for the 2019 cohort refers to their earnings in calendar year 2020, these are likely to have been impacted by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It should be emphasised that these earnings relate to those in any form of substantial employment, including those re-enrolled in education who were simultaneously engaged in part-time work (assuming their employment met the criteria for substantial employment, as delineated in the Background Notes of this release). As shown in Figure 1.4 in the Outcomes chapter, non-progressors at NFQ Level 8 were most likely to be re-enrolled in education. The proceeding section further explores this, differentiating the earnings of those who were solely employed vs. those who were working alongside their studies. This can also be examined directly in the PxStat data tables accompanying this release.
Comparing those who were detected as in both education and employment as compared to those in employment only, those who were solely employed (‘Employment only’) showed greater median earnings compared to those who were also enrolled in education. In the latest cohort, the former showed median earnings of €460, whilst those in employment and education earned an average of €390.
It should be noted that the number of hours worked by an individual is not present in the data sources examined, which is likely to affect weekly earnings.
Looking at the 2018 cohort in the years after non-progression, weekly earnings increased by €265, from €350 to €615. Growth in median earnings over this time period was consistently observed, regardless of the NFQ level of the course originally studied.
Examining whether the NFQ level of the course originally studied had an impact on weekly earnings, these differences were relatively small. The largest difference seen was five years on, when the median earnings of those originally enrolled at NFQ Level 7 stood at €560, whilst the median for NFQ Level 6 non-progressors was €520.
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