Education Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020

Ireland: Real current public expenditure on education

Table 4.1 Ireland: Real current public expenditure on education, 2008-2018¹
€ per student at constant 2019 prices				€m at 2019 prices
Year	Level			Real Current Public Expenditure
Year	Primary	Second	Third	Real Current Public Expenditure
2008	6,455	9,343	11,160	8,242
2009	6,684	9,417	10,565	8,530
2010	6,058	8,406	9,339	8,479
2011	6,134	8,468	8,797	8,388
2012	6,133	8,543	8,323	8,185
2013	5,959	7,837	7,702	8,286
2014	5,755	7,777	7,245	8,166
2015	5,973	7,835	6,999	8,451
2016	5,906	7,771	6,774	8,451
2017	6,342	8,208	7,092	8,703
2018	6,788	8,797	7,252	9,192
		Source: Department of Education and Skills, CSO
¹Second level includes further education, e.g. post-Leaving Certificate programmes

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020 Table 4.1 (XLS 15KB)

Ireland's real current public expenditure on education (at constant prices) was €9.2bn in 2018. Overall, between 2008 and 2018, real current public expenditure increased by 11.5%.
Ireland's current expenditure on primary education increased by 5.2% between 2008 and 2018, from €6,455 per student to €6,788 per student.
At secondary level, real expenditure per student decreased by 5.8% between 2008 and 2018, from €9,343 per student in 2008 to €8,797 per student in 2018.
Over the same period, real expenditure per student at third level education decreased from €11,160 in 2008 to €7,252 in 2018, a drop of 35.0%.

Year	Primary	Secondary	Third Level
2008	6455	9343	11160
2009	6684	9417	10565
2010	6058	8406	9339
2011	6134	8468	8797
2012	6133	8543	8323
2013	5959	7837	7702
2014	5755	7777	7245
2015	5973	7835	6999
2016	5906	7771	6774
2017	6342	8208	7092
2018	6788	8797	7252

Ireland: Number of students by level

Table 4.2 Ireland: Number of students by level, 2011-2021^1,2,3
Year	Primary Level	Secondary Level	Third Level
2011	509,652	356,107	194,269
2012	516,458	359,047	196,846
2013	526,422	362,847	200,641
2014	536,317	367,178	205,407
2015	544,696	372,296	209,322
2016	553,380	378,003	216,603
2017	558,314	384,237	218,243
2018	563,459	388,281	223,743
2019	567,772	392,267	228,503
2020	567,716	395,611	235,697
2021	561,411	405,003	245,663
Source: Department of Education and Skills, Higher Education Authority, CSO
¹Year refers to the year at the end of the academic year i.e. 2011 is the school year 2010/2011.
²Only students in institutions aided by the Department of Education and Skills are included.
³Second level includes further education, e.g. post-Leaving Certificate programmes.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020 Table 4.2 (XLS 9KB)

In 2021 primary school enrolment increased by 10.2% (or 51,759 students) compared with 2011, rising from 509,652 to 561,411.
Over the same time period, secondary school enrolment increased by 13.7%.
The number of third level students increased by over a quarter (26.5%) in 2021 compared with 2011.

X-axis label	Primary Level	Secondary Level	Third Level
2011	509652	356107	194269
2012	516458	359047	196846
2013	526422	362847	200641
2014	536317	367178	205407
2015	544696	372296	209322
2016	553380	378003	216603
2017	558314	384237	218243
2018	563459	388281	223743
2019	567772	392267	228503
2020	567716	395611	235697
2021	561411	405003	245663

By country: Ratio of students to teachers

Table 4.3 By country: Ratio of students to teachers, 2019^1,2
Country	Primary	Lower Secondary	Upper Secondary
Greece	8.7	7.9	9.8
Luxembourg	9.0	:	9.2
Poland	9.6	10.4	9.7
Hungary	10.0	11.3	11.5
Slovenia	10.6	:	14.0
Italy	11.4	10.9	10.3
Denmark	11.9	10.8	11.4
Latvia	12.0	8.9	11.1
Austria	12.0	8.5	10.1
Cyprus	12.3	9.6	8.5
Portugal	12.3	9.1	9.2
Bulgaria	12.5	11.2	12.5
Belgium	12.7	8.9	9.5
Malta	12.8	6.5	7.5
Estonia	12.9	10.0	15.4
Sweden	13.0	11.2	13.0
Croatia	13.4	8.5	8.0
EU27	13.5	11.9	11.2
Finland	13.5	8.8	17.5
Spain	13.6	11.7	10.4
Lithuania	14.5	9.7	9.4
Ireland	15.0	:	12.9
Germany	15.1	12.9	12.4
Netherlands	16.4	16.0	17.7
Slovakia	17.4	12.7	13.4
Czech Republic	18.7	12.6	10.5
France	18.8	14.5	11.3
Romania	19.4	11.5	13.4

United Kingdom	19.9	16.2	18.2

EFTA Countries:
Liechtenstein	10.2	7.5	12.3
Norway	10.4	9.7	10.7
Iceland	10.7	9.9	:

EU Candidate Countries:
Macedonia	14.8	8.3	10.3
Turkey	17.5	15.3	11.5
Source: Eurostat, Department of Education and Skills
¹ Data for Ireland is 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.
²Sorted by "Primary", ascending.
: Data is unavailable.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020 Table 4.3 (XLS 12KB)

Ireland had a student to teacher ratio of 15.0 for primary level education in 2019. This was the seventh highest ratio in the EU27 and was above the EU27 average of 13.5.
The lowest student to teacher ratio for primary education in the EU27 in 2019 was in Greece at 8.7, and the highest was in Romania at 19.4.
For secondary level, Ireland had a student to teacher ratio of 12.9 in 2019. The EU27 average for upper secondary was 11.2.
In 2019, Malta had the lowest student to teacher ratio in upper secondary at 7.5, and the Netherlands had the highest at 17.7. For lower secondary, Malta also had the lowest at 6.5, and the Netherlands also had the highest at 16.0.

By country: Persons aged 25-34 with third level education by sex

Table 4.4 By country: Persons aged 25-34 with third level education by sex, 2020¹
% of population aged 25-34
Country	Total Persons	Males	Females	Differential
Luxembourg	58.8	53.2	64.5	-11.3
Cyprus	57.0	46.0	67.7	-21.7
Ireland	56.3	52.5	60.0	-7.5
Lithuania	56.3	45.9	67.9	-22.0
Netherlands	50.9	46.2	55.8	-9.6
Sweden	49.0	40.4	58.1	-17.7
Belgium	48.0	40.3	55.9	-15.6
France	47.8	43.9	51.5	-7.6
Spain	46.9	40.8	53.1	-12.3
Denmark	46.6	38.6	54.9	-16.3
Slovenia	44.4	35.3	54.7	-19.4
Greece	43.9	37.1	50.9	-13.8
Finland	43.9	35.9	52.3	-16.4
Estonia	43.2	32.7	54.7	-22.0
Latvia	42.6	32.4	53.5	-21.1
Portugal	41.8	34.4	49.1	-14.7
Austria	40.7	36.5	45.2	-8.7
Malta	39.7	35.8	44.4	-8.6
EU27	39.6	34.3	45.1	-10.8
Slovakia	39.0	29.3	49.2	-19.9
Poland	38.2	29.4	47.3	-17.9
Croatia	36.6	27.0	47.0	-20.0
Germany	34.7	33.4	36.1	-2.7
Czech Republic	32.6	25.7	39.9	-14.2
Bulgaria	32.5	26.7	38.6	-11.9
Hungary	30.0	24.6	35.8	-11.2
Italy	29.1	23.0	35.4	-12.4
Romania	24.6	21.5	28.0	-6.5

United Kingdom	:	:	:	:

EFTA Countries:
Switzerland	52.1	51.7	52.6	-0.9
Norway	50.6	41.6	60.1	-18.5
Iceland	39.0	31.5	47.7	-16.2

EU Candidate Countries:
Montenegro	44.5	38.7	50.7	-12.0
Macedonia	37.4	31.3	43.7	-12.4
Turkey	35.2	34.0	36.4	-2.4
Serbia	32.3	25.9	39.0	-13.1
Source: Eurostat - Population and Social Conditions
¹Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.
: Data is unavailable.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020 Table 4.4 (XLS 11KB)

More than half (56.3%) of persons aged 25-34 in Ireland had a third level qualification in 2020, above the EU27 average of 39.6%, and the third highest rate in the EU27 (along with Lithuania).

Females were more likely to have a third level education compared to males in all EU countries in 2020, with Estonia and Lithuania having the highest percentage point differentials of 22.0.

In Ireland, 52.5% of men aged 25-34 had a third level qualification, compared to 60.0% of women.

Ireland had the third lowest percentage gender differential between men and women with third level education at 7.5, while Germany had the lowest gender differential at 2.7.

Year	EU27	Ireland
2010	31.4	46.8
2011	32.3	46.2
2012	33.3	48.1
2013	34.3	49.6
2014	35.1	50.3
2015	35.7	50.9
2016	36.1	51.3
2017	36.9	51.9
2018	37.8	53.7
2019	38.5	53.1
2020	39.6	56.3

By country: Student performance on the mathematics, reading, and science literacy scales

Table 4.5 By country: Student performance on the mathematical, reading and scientific literacy scales, 2018^1,2
Mean score of 15 year old students
Country	Mathematics	Reading	Science
Estonia	523.4	523.0	530.1
Netherlands	519.2	484.8	503.4
Poland	515.6	511.9	511.0
Denmark	509.4	501.1	492.6
Slovenia	508.9	495.3	507.0
Belgium	508.1	492.9	498.8
Finland	507.3	520.1	521.9
Sweden	502.4	505.8	499.4
Germany	500.0	498.3	503.0
Ireland	499.6	518.1	496.1
Czech Republic	499.5	490.2	496.8
Austria	498.9	484.4	489.8
Latvia	496.1	478.7	487.3
France	495.4	492.6	493.0
Portugal	492.5	491.8	491.7
OECD Average	489.3	487.1	488.7
Italy	486.6	476.3	468.0
Slovak Republic	486.2	458.0	464.0
Luxembourg	483.4	470.0	476.8
Spain	481.4	:	483.3
Lithuania	481.2	475.9	482.1
Hungary	481.1	476.0	480.9
Greece	451.4	457.4	451.6

United Kingdom	501.8	503.9	504.7

EFTA Countries:
Switzerland	515.3	483.9	495.3
Norway	501.0	499.5	490.4
Iceland	495.2	474.0	475.0

EU Candidate Countries:
Turkey	453.5	465.6	468.3
¹Data sourced from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international triennial test given to 15 year - olds (see Appendix 1).
²Sorted by "Mathematics", descending.
: Data is unavailable.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020 Table 4.5 (XLS 18KB)

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam is held every three years, with the most recent occurring in 2018 (the 2021 exam has been postponed until 2022). 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 tenth highest in the EU27 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 EU27. Estonia had the highest reading literacy score at 523.

The average score for scientific literacy in Ireland was 496.1, the tenth highest in the EU27 and above the OECD average of 488.7. The three EU27 countries with the highest scientific literacy scores were: Estonia (530.1), Finland (521.9), and Poland (511).

By country: Young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET rate)

Table 4.6 By country: Young persons aged 18-24 neither in employment nor in education and training by sex, 2020¹
% of population aged 18-24
Country	Total Persons	Males	Females	Gender Differential
Italy	24.8	24.9	24.6	0.3
Cyprus	19.8	21.3	18.6	2.7
Greece	19.3	19.1	19.4	-0.3
Bulgaria	18.7	17.7	19.7	-2.0
Romania	18.6	14.3	23.2	-8.9
Spain	18.1	19.2	16.8	2.4
Croatia	16.2	16.3	16.0	0.3
Hungary	15.5	12.1	19.1	-7.0
France	15.4	15.6	15.2	0.4
Ireland	14.8	15.6	13.9	1.7
Lithuania	14.5	16.5	12.3	4.2
EU27	14.4	14.2	14.6	-0.4
Slovakia	13.9	12.4	15.5	-3.1
Finland	13.1	14.8	11.4	3.4
Portugal	12.3	12.7	11.9	0.8
Estonia	12.0	10.4	13.6	-3.2
Poland	11.9	10.7	13.2	-2.5
Belgium	11.4	12.0	10.8	1.2
Latvia	10.4	10.1	10.6	-0.5
Slovenia	10.1	9.0	11.3	-2.3
Austria	10.0	11.3	8.7	2.6
Denmark	9.6	10.0	9.1	0.9
Malta	9.6	11.0	8.0	3.0
Sweden	9.2	9.2	9.1	0.1
Luxembourg	9.0	11.1	6.9	4.2
Czech Republic	8.9	5.5	12.5	-7.0
Germany	8.7	8.5	8.9	-0.4
Netherlands	5.9	6.0	5.8	0.2

United Kingdom	:	:	:	:

EFTA Countries:
Switzerland	7.3	9.1	5.4	3.7
Norway	6.7	7.2	6.1	1.1
Iceland	6.6	6.5	6.8	-0.3

EU Candidate Countries:
Turkey	36.2	26.5	46.1	-19.6
Montenegro	27.3	28.5	26.0	2.5
Macedonia	26.3	26.1	26.6	-0.5
Serbia	21.0	22.3	19.6	2.7
Source: Eurostat, Population and Social Conditions
¹Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.
: Data is unavailable.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020 Table 4.6 (XLS 12KB)

The NEET rate measures the proportion of young people aged 18-24 who are neither in employment nor in education and training.

In 2020, the NEET rate in Ireland was 14.8%, above the EU27 rate of 14.4%.

In the EU27, the Netherlands had the lowest NEET rate at 5.9%, while Italy had the highest at 24.8%.

Sixteen countries in the EU27 had higher NEET rates for men. Of these, Lithuania and Luxembourg had the highest gender differentials at 4.2.

The remaining eleven countries had higher NEET rates amongst women in 2020, with the largest occurring in Romania at 8.9.

By country: Science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates by sex

Table 4.7 By country: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics graduates by sex, 2019¹
Per 1,000 of population aged 20-29
Country	Total Persons	Males	Females	Differential
Ireland	36.9	49.7	23.9	25.8
France	27.5	37.8	17.3	20.5
Finland	24.8	35.1	13.9	21.2
Germany	24.4	34.7	13.2	21.5
Denmark	23.7	30.8	16.4	14.4
Austria	23.4	33.3	13.0	20.3
Spain	20.9	29.7	11.9	17.8
Portugal	20.9	26.4	15.4	11.0
EU27	20.8	27.5	13.7	13.8
Slovenia	20.8	26.6	14.3	12.3
Poland	20.1	22.6	17.4	5.2
Croatia	19.8	24.4	15.0	9.4
Lithuania	19.8	26.5	12.5	14.0
Romania	17.5	19.3	15.5	3.8
Greece	17.2	19.7	14.6	5.1
Estonia	16.5	19.0	13.8	5.2
Italy	16.4	19.4	13.3	6.1
Czech Republic	16.1	19.8	12.2	7.6
Sweden	15.8	19.6	11.7	7.9
Belgium	14.2	20.7	7.5	13.2
Bulgaria	14.0	17.6	10.2	7.4
Latvia	14.0	18.7	9.0	9.7
Netherlands	13.6	18.6	8.4	10.2
Slovakia	12.9	16.6	9.0	7.6
Hungary	12.3	16.8	7.4	9.4
Malta	11.0	14.8	6.8	8.0
Cyprus	10.2	13.5	7.2	6.3
Luxembourg	3.9	5.7	2.0	3.7

United Kingdom	26.2	30.5	21.6	8.9

EFTA Countries:
Switzerland	22.0	33.1	10.5	22.6
Norway	16.5	23.0	9.7	13.3
Iceland	15.9	17.6	14.0	3.6
Liechtenstein	9.0	7.4	10.7	-3.3

EU Candidate Countries:
Serbia	16.0	18.0	13.8	4.2
Turkey	12.8	16.4	9.0	7.4
Macedonia	8.4	8.6	8.3	0.3
Source: Eurostat - Population and Social Conditions
¹Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020 Table 4.7 (XLS 11KB)

Ireland had the highest rate of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates in 2019, at 36.9 per 1,000 of persons aged 20-29.

Furthermore, Ireland also had the largest gender differential in the EU27 at 25.8, with 49.7 male STEM graduates per 1,000 persons aged 20-29 compared with 23.9 for female STEM graduates.

Luxembourg had the lowest rate of STEM graduates in 2019 at 3.9 per 1,000 of persons aged 20-29. Luxembourg also had the lowest gender differential in the EU27 at 3.7, with 5.7 male STEM graduates per 1,000 persons aged 20-29 compared with 2.0 for female STEM graduates.

Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020

Education

Ireland: Real current public expenditure on education

Ireland: Number of students by level

By country: Ratio of students to teachers

By country: Persons aged 25-34 with third level education by sex

By country: Student performance on the mathematics, reading, and science literacy scales

By country: Young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET rate)

By country: Science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates by sex

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