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Measuring Ireland's Progress 2018

Education

 

Table 4.1 Ireland: Real current public expenditure on education, 2007-20161
€ per student at constant 2015 prices€m at 2015 prices
YearLevelReal Current Public Expenditure
PrimarySecond1Third
20076,0648,82010,8067,644
20086,7539,77411,6767,878
20096,9929,85211,0528,153
20106,3388,7949,7788,105
20116,4188,8609,2238,017
20126,4178,9398,7217,823
20136,3268,3208,1947,804
20146,0058,1157,5917,827
20156,2958,2577,5768,019
20166,2068,1667,0898,035
Source: Department of Education and Skills, CSO
1 Second level includes further education, e.g. post-Leaving Certificate programmes
  • Between 2007 and 2009, Ireland's real current public expenditure on education (at constant prices) increased from €7.6bn to €8.2bn. It then decreased to €7.8bn in 2013, before increasing again to €8.0bn in 2016. Overall, between 2007 and 2016, real current public expenditure increased by 5.1%.

  • Ireland's current expenditure on primary education increased by 2.3% between 2007 and 2016, from €6,064 per student to €6,206 per student.

  • At secondary level, real expenditure per student decreased by 7.4% between 2007 and 2016, from €8,820 per student in 2007 to €8,166 per student in 2016.

  • Over the same period, real expenditure per student at third level education decreased from €10,806 in 2007 to €7,089 in 2016, a drop of 34.4%.
YearPrimarySecondaryThird Level
20065471733110054
20076064882010806
20086753977411676
20096992985211052
2010633887949778
2011641888609223
2012641789398721
2013632683208194
2014600581157591
2015629582577576
2016620681667089
Table 4.2 Ireland: Number of students by level, 2009-20191,2,3
   
YearPrimary LevelSecondary Level
2009498,914341,312
2010505,998350,687
2011509,652356,107
2012516,458359,047
2013526,422362,847
2014536,317367,178
2015544,696372,296
2016553,380378,003
2017558,314384,237
2018563,459388,281
2019567,772392,267
Source: Department of Education and Skills, CSO
1Year refers to the year at the end of the academic year, i.e. 2009 is the school year 2008/2009.
2 Only students in institutions aided by the Department of Education and Skills are included.
3 Second level includes further education, e.g. post-Leaving Certificate programmes.
  • Primary school enrolment increased by 13.8% (or 68,858 students) between 2009 and 2019, rising from 498,914 to 567,772.

  • Over the same time period, secondary school enrolment increased by 14.9%, or 50,955 students.
YearPrimary LevelSecondary Level
2009498914341312
2010505998350687
2011509652356107
2012516458359047
2013526422362847
2014536317367178
2015544696372296
2016553380378003
2017558314384237
2018563459388281
2019567772392267
Table 4.3 EU28: Ratio of students to teachers, 20171,2,3
CountryPrimaryLower SecondaryUpper Secondary
Luxembourg9.010.98.6
Greece9.47.89.3
Lithuania10.67.38.0
Poland10.79.510.0
Hungary10.810.411.5
Austria11.38.610.1
Italy11.711.010.3
Denmark11.911.013.1
Latvia12.18.410.4
Cyprus12.69.78.8
Portugal12.79.89.2
Sweden12.812.213.7
Belgium12.98.99.7
Malta13.06.58.0
Estonia13.210.015.6
Spain13.611.810.7
Finland13.78.918.2
Croatia14.08.68.6
Slovenia14.46.014.1
EU2814.712.212.2
Bulgaria15.312.512.4
Germany15.413.212.7
Ireland15.7:13.7
Netherlands16.716.118.0
United Kingdom16.915.217.2
Slovakia17.412.413.6
Czech Republic19.112.111.1
Romania19.412.113.7
France19.514.411.5
    
Norway10.29.410.1
Iceland11.110.1:
Serbia15.010.310.3
Macedonia15.28.811.0
Turkey17.016.512.9
Source: Eurostat, Department of Education and Skills
1 Data from 2014 used for Denmark.
2 Data for Ireland from the Department of Education and Skills. For Ireland, data for Upper secondary (ISCED Level 3) includes data for both ISCED Level 2 and ISCED Level 3.
3 Sorted by primary, ascending.
  • Ireland had a student to teacher ratio of 15.7 for primary level education in 2017. This was the seventh highest ratio in the EU28 and was above the EU28 average of 14.7.

  • The lowest student to teacher ratio for primary education in the EU28 in 2017 was in Luxembourg at 9.0, and the highest was in France at 19.5.

  • For secondary level, Ireland had a student to teacher ratio of 13.7 in 2017. The EU28 average for upper secondary was 12.2.

  • In 2017, both Lithuania and Malta had the lowest student to teacher ratio in upper secondary at 8.0, and Finland had the highest at 18.2. For lower secondary, Slovenia had the lowest at 6.0, and the Netherlands had the highest at 16.1.
Table 4.4 EU28: Persons aged 25-34 with Third Level Education by Sex, 20181
Percentage of population aged 25-34
CountryTotal PersonsMalesFemalesGender Differential
Cyprus57.448.366.2-17.8
Lithuania55.646.765.1-18.4
Ireland53.749.557.8-8.3
Luxembourg51.146.455.9-9.4
Sweden47.940.755.4-14.6
United Kingdom47.644.151.2-7.0
Belgium47.240.254.2-14.0
Netherlands47.042.052.0-10.0
France45.741.350.0-8.8
Denmark44.036.451.9-15.5
Spain43.837.949.7-11.8
Estonia43.634.154.0-19.9
Greece43.435.851.0-15.2
Malta41.738.046.1-8.2
Slovenia40.430.151.7-21.5
Finland40.332.548.6-16.0
Latvia40.228.852.2-23.5
Austria39.835.344.5-9.2
Poland39.330.648.3-17.7
EU2839.134.044.4-10.3
Slovakia37.230.044.8-14.8
Croatia35.728.343.3-15.0
Portugal34.625.443.6-18.2
Bulgaria33.626.940.7-13.8
Czech Republic33.226.240.6-14.4
Germany31.630.432.9-2.5
Hungary30.024.336.1-11.8
Italy27.621.433.9-12.6
Romania24.821.728.2-6.5
    
Switzerland50.448.352.4-4.1
Norway48.741.656.2-14.6
Iceland44.837.353.2-16.0
Montenegro36.129.943.2-13.3
Macedonia33.427.240.0-12.8
Serbia32.525.539.7-14.2
Turkey31.631.232.0-0.8
Source: Eurostat
1 Sorted by total persons, descending.
  • More than half (53.7%) of persons aged 25-34 in Ireland had a third level qualification in 2018, above the EU28 average of 39.1%, and the third highest rate in the EU28.
  • Women aged 25-34 were more likely to have a third level education compared to men in all EU28 countries in 2018.
  • In Ireland, 49.5% of men aged 25-34 had a third level qualification, compared to 57.8% of women.

  • Ireland had the fourth lowest percentage gender differential between men and women with third level education at 8.3. Germany had the lowest gender differential (2.5), and Latvia had the highest (23.5).

CountryEU 28Eurozone 19Ireland
200830.504693118280130.50109262061644.3408803778996
200931.885845687658131.505810707322846.4916534263252
201032.539354378038732.042214707619446.7925158050229
201133.627748889031632.759761112806346.1833197178648
201234.698703861145133.561051357678548.1191032164887
201335.605767862660734.513526570207349.5827067093861
201436.422213868272335.274640448525250.347234716275
201537.071501826718335.837315078928850.9082047502437
201637.53467484651836.268913660124351.3361494704965
201738.212493812851337.174638022682151.8582139069932
201839.143615735388938.410647538601253.739977510122
Table 4.5 EU28: Student performance on the mathematical, reading and scientific literacy scales, 20181,2
Mean score of 15 year old students
CountryMathematicsReadingScience
Estonia523.4523.0530.1
Netherlands519.2484.8503.4
Poland515.6511.9511.0
Denmark509.4501.1492.6
Slovenia508.9495.3507.0
Belgium508.1492.9498.8
Finland507.3520.1521.9
Sweden502.4505.8499.4
United Kingdom501.8503.9504.7
Germany500.0498.3503.0
Ireland499.6518.1496.1
Czech Republic499.5490.2496.8
Austria498.9484.4489.8
Latvia496.1478.7487.3
France495.4492.6493.0
Portugal492.5491.8491.7
OECD Average489.3487.1488.7
Italy486.6476.3468.0
Slovak Republic486.2458.0464.0
Luxembourg483.4470.0476.8
Spain481.4:483.3
Lithuania481.2475.9482.1
Hungary481.1476.0480.9
Greece451.4457.4451.6
    
Switzerland515.3483.9495.3
Norway501.0499.5490.4
Iceland495.2474.0475.0
Turkey453.5465.6468.3
1 Data sourced from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an
 international triennial test given to 15 year - olds (see Appendix 1).
2 Sorted by mathematics, descending.
: indicates data unavailable.
  • The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam is held every three years, with the most recent occurring in 2018. The exam is scored on a scale of 0 to 1,000.

  • The average score of 15 year-olds in Ireland on the mathematical literacy scale was 499.6, the eleventh highest in the EU28 and above the OECD average score of 489.3. Estonia had the highest score in this category at 523.4.

  • In reading literacy, Ireland had a score of 518.1 points, the third highest in the EU28. Estonia had the highest reading literacy score at 523.

  • The average score for scientific literacy in Ireland was 496.1, the eleventh highest in the EU28 and above the OECD average of 488.7. The three EU28 countries with the highest scientific literacy scores were: Estonia (530.1), Finland (521.9), and Poland (511).
Table 4.6 EU28: Young people neither in employment nor in education and training by sex (NEET rate), 20181
% of population aged 18-24
CountryTotal PersonsMalesFemalesGender Differential
Italy24.924.625.2-0.6
Greece20.019.820.2-0.4
Cyprus18.821.516.35.2
Bulgaria18.716.620.9-4.3
Romania18.113.922.7-8.8
Croatia17.617.018.2-1.2
Spain16.116.815.41.4
France15.215.914.41.5
Eurozone 1914.014.014.00.0
EU2813.713.114.4-1.3
Hungary13.69.318.2-8.9
United Kingdom13.412.314.5-2.2
Ireland12.612.512.7-0.2
Slovakia12.610.215.2-5.0
Poland11.79.813.8-4.0
Portugal11.711.811.50.3
Finland11.612.011.20.8
Belgium11.512.010.91.1
Latvia11.211.510.80.7
Estonia10.611.69.52.1
Lithuania10.611.110.20.9
Denmark8.99.08.80.2
Slovenia8.47.49.7-2.3
Sweden8.38.48.30.1
Germany8.17.38.9-1.6
Austria8.17.88.5-0.7
Luxembourg8.06.99.0-2.1
Czech Republic7.64.710.7-6.0
Malta7.67.57.7-0.2
Netherlands5.45.45.5-0.1
     
Macedonia31.230.432.1-1.7
Turkey30.719.142.7-23.6
Montenegro21.624.918.16.8
Serbia21.420.921.8-0.9
Switzerland7.08.55.43.1
Norway6.76.96.40.5
Iceland5.45.05.8-0.8
Source: Eurostat
1 Sorted by total persons, descending.
  • The NEET rate measures the proportion of young people aged 18-24 who are neither in employment nor in education and training.

  • In 2018, the NEET rate in Ireland was 12.6%, below the EU28 rate of 13.7%. 

  • In the EU28, the Netherlands had the lowest NEET rate at 5.4%, while Italy had the highest at 24.9%.

  • Eleven countries in the EU28 had higher NEET rates for men. Of these, Cyprus had the highest gender differential at 5.2.

  • The remaining seventeen countries had higher NEET rates amongst women in 2018, with the largest occurring in Hungary at 8.9.
This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
Table 4.7 EU28: Mathematics, Science, and Technology Graduates by sex, 20171,2
Per 1,000 of population aged 20-29
CountryTotal PersonsMalesFemalesGender Differential
Ireland32.746.019.426.6
France26.035.316.818.5
Poland23.626.220.95.3
United Kingdom23.628.618.510.1
Denmark22.629.115.813.3
Finland22.431.712.619.1
Austria22.031.611.919.7
Spain21.930.413.117.3
Portugal20.625.415.69.8
Germany20.428.311.716.6
Slovenia19.425.013.411.6
EU2819.324.913.411.5
Lithuania18.925.911.514.4
Croatia18.522.214.77.5
Greece17.921.114.56.6
Czech Republic16.821.112.28.9
Estonia16.519.713.26.5
Romania15.117.113.04.1
Sweden15.018.710.97.8
Slovakia14.718.610.68.0
Italy14.517.111.75.4
Bulgaria14.317.510.96.6
Malta13.819.18.011.1
Belgium13.620.07.112.9
Latvia12.717.08.18.9
Hungary12.116.07.98.1
Netherlands12.016.77.19.6
Cyprus10.112.57.74.8
Luxembourg3.85.61.83.8
     
Iceland17.420.613.96.7
Norway16.523.09.613.4
Serbia16.219.113.35.8
Turkey12.516.48.57.9
Liechtenstein11.311.810.90.9
Macedonia7.67.87.50.3
    Source: Eurostat
1 2016 data used for EU28
2 Sorted by total persons, descending
  • Ireland had the highest rate of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates in 2017, at 32.7 per 1,000 of persons aged 20-29.

  • Furthermore, Ireland also had the largest gender differential in the EU28 at 26.6, with 46.0 male STEM graduates per 1,000 persons aged 20-29 compared with 19.4 females.

  • Luxembourg had the lowest rate of STEM graduates in 2017 at 3.8 per 1,000 of persons aged 20-29. It also had the smallest gender differential at 3.8.

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