Of new entrants to higher education in 2022/23 who did not progress in their studies, 49% were solely in substantial employment in calendar year 2024, without having returned to education.
A further 40% of people who did not progress in their studies in 2022/23 were enrolled in higher or further education in 2024, either with (33%) or without (7%) accompanying substantial employment.
Those who did not progress from 2022/23 and subsequently entered employment in 2024 were largely employed in Wholesale & Retail Trade and Accommodation & Food Service Activities, with these sectors collectively accounting for 53% of those in substantial employment.
The overall median earnings of those who did not progress in 2022/23 and were substantially employed in 2024 was €430 per week.
Over time, more of those who didn’t progress in academic year 2017/18 ceased to show activity in the data sources examined (their outcome category being ‘Not Captured’), increasing from 4% after one year, to 12% after six years.
Those who did not progress with their studies from the 2017/18 academic year became less likely to be in substantial employment, decreasing from 79% in employment after one year, to 74% after six years.
This analysis is restricted to new entrants to higher education at HEA institutions in the years examined. These were full-time undergraduate students in the first year of their course at NFQ Levels 6, 7, or 8, excluding those studying overseas or enrolled on generic programmes and qualifications.
Non-progression refers to those did not progress from year one to year two. This is defined as those who were not detected as enrolled in any institution, according to HEA data as of March in each academic year, in the academic year immediately after the year in which they were enrolled as a new entrant. Importantly, this definition is not the same as that which was used in a previous CSO report on the topic of non-progression, in which individuals were further required to have re-enrolled in the same institution to be considered ‘progressed’.
For full details of the methodology, please refer to the Background Notes of this release.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (28 October 2026) published Higher Education Outcomes – Non Progression 2018-2023.
This release uses administrative data to assess the subsequent outcomes of new entrants to higher education who did not progress from year one of their studies, looking in particular at whether they opted for employment or re-enrolment in education.
Please note that whilst there has been a previous release on this topic, this release uses an amended definition of non-progression that excludes those who transferred from one higher education institution to another. As a result, this release should not be considered directly comparable to the previous release
Commenting on the release, Oliver Ratcliffe, statistician in the National Data Analysis and Research (NDAR) Unit, explained:
"This release examines the outcomes of new entrants to higher education who did not progress with their original course, referred to here as non-progressors. Analysis of administrative data sources provides insight into this group’s choices after they did not progress with their original course of study, such as whether they opted to re-enrol in education or go into employment, in addition to their subsequent earnings.
Outcomes of 2022/23 Non-Progressors One Year On (In 2024)
Of new entrants to higher education in 2022/23, approximately 81% were engaged in substantial employment, primarily in the Wholesale & Retail Trade (32%) and Accommodation & Food Service Activities (21%) sectors. The median earnings of those in substantial employment was €430 per week.
Around 40% showed activity in education-related data sources, this proportion being higher for female (44%) non-progressors as compared to males (36%). Of those returning to education, 46% showed enrolment activity in higher education, 44% in further education, and 10% had enrolled in both across the course of the year.
Outcomes of 2017/18 Non-Progressors Six Years On (In 2024)
Looking at the outcomes of the 2017/18 group, whose outcomes we can assess up to six years after they had non-progressed, the largest proportion of non-progressors who re-enrolled in education was seen three years after they had not continued with their original course (38%). After this three-year mark, the number of non-progressors active in education fell.
For those in substantial employment, their median weekly earnings increased from €350 to €615 over these six years. However, the overall proportion of those in substantial employment was smaller (74%) six years after they opted out of their original course, compared to one year after they decided not to progress with their course (79%). Notably, six years after not progressing with their course, individuals were more likely to be classified as ‘Not Captured’ (12%) compared to one year on (4%). As this category indicates a lack of activity in the examined data sources, it could be suggestive of emigration, however, this cannot be confirmed by the data.”
Senior Statistician, Rob Kelly, further noted:
"This release was produced using a statistical framework known as the Educational Longitudinal Database (ELD) developed by the CSO. This framework relies on matching datasets from the education sector to other public sector datasets which allow us to determine graduate outcomes in subsequent years. Please refer to the Background Notes and the ELD Methodology page for further information. In doing so, the CSO follows rigorous data protection protocols, treating all data with strict confidentiality and never disclosing any data that could subsequently be associated with any person or enterprise. We have compiled these statistics using anonymised records and only produce statistical results at an aggregate level. This means no individual can ever be identified from the data we utilise.”