Almost 6 in 10 of pupils enrolled in school in 2023/24 were enrolled in primary education while over 4 in 10 were enrolled in post-primary education, similar to the proportions for all children, see Table 4.1.
Of the children in care linked to a 2023/24 primary school enrolment, 15% of children in care were enrolled at a special school or in a special class attached to a mainstream primary school while this proportion was 4% for all children (see Figure 4.1 and Table 4.1).
Note that in the academic year 2023/24, 99% of primary enrolments and 97% of post-primary enrolments could be successfully linked to other pseudonymised administrative data sources using Protected Identifier Keys or PIKs (see Background Notes for more details on PIKs). Table 4.1 relates to these linked enrolments only. Note also that the number of primary pupils in special schools or in a special class attached to a mainstream primary school in Table 4.1 is an undercount as approximately 630 special school pupil records did not have a PIK and hence will not appear in the linked figures for either cohort, children in care or all children.
| X-axis label | Primary pupils in special primary schools or special class attached to mainstream primary school |
|---|---|
| Children in care | 15 |
| All children | 4 |
Looking at all relevant enrolment data available to the CSO (primary enrolments 2015/16 to 2023/24, post-primary enrolments 2012/13 to 2023/24), 7% of children in care of school age repeated at least one year at primary or post primary school, see Figure 4.2 and Table 4.2.
This figure was 2% for all children. Note that this figure does not include pupils repeating a year at non-State funded private schools (which would be particularly relevant for those repeating the final year of the Leaving Certificate cycle).
| X-axis label | repeating a year at primary or post-primary school |
|---|---|
| Children in care | 7 |
| All children | 2 |
Of the 1,573 children in care who started post-primary education between the academic years 2013/2014 and 2017/2018, 29% or 456 children left school early, that is, without completing the Leaving Certificate. This proportion was lower for all children at 8% or 23,631 children (see Figure 4.3 and Table 4.3).
As this analysis related to pupils that enrolled in post-primary school in the academic years 2013/2014 through to 2017/2018, note that early leavers would generally be aged at least 18 years by January 2025 and so would no longer be in care. Note also that the analysis only relates to children aged under 25 years in January 2025.
| X-axis label | early leavers |
|---|---|
| Children in care | 29 |
| All children | 8 |
Table 4.4 gives a breakdown of children in care who left school early by a variety of characteristics including sex, placement type and number of placements, as well as by educational indicators such as repeating a school year. A lower proportion of children who were in foster care when leaving care were early school leavers (17%) compared to children on other placement types (68%). Children who had a single placement during their time in care also had lower levels of early leaving (20%) compared to children who had been on more than one placement (38%), while females (24%) were less likely than males (34%) to be early leavers.
Over half (54%) of the 81 children in the relevant entry cohort (2013-2017) who repeated a year at primary or post-primary school went on to become an early school leaver, compared with 28% of those who did not repeat a year.
Table 4.5 gives a breakdown of state examination completion rates. It shows that of those who entered post-primary school between 2013 and 2017, overall 90% of children in care completed the Junior Certificate, compared with 97% of all children in the same entry cohort.
The Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied completion rates meanwhile were 54% and 16% respectively for children in care from the same entry cohort, giving a rounded total of 71% who completed Senior Cycle state exams. For all children the Leaving Certificate completion rate was higher at 87%, but the Leaving Certificate Applied completion rate was lower at 4%.
Please note that data for Table 4.5 is derived from State Examinations Commission data, while data for Table 4.3 is sourced from the Department of Education and Youth, and for definitional reasons, summed totals (including derived) between the tables will differ.
| X-axis label | Completed Leaving Certificate | Completed Leaving Certificate Applied |
|---|---|---|
| Children in care | 54 | 16 |
| All children | 87 | 4 |
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