Nearly three in ten people (28.2%) who had ceased their full-time education in 2016 had a third level degree or higher. The highest proportion of people with at least a third level degree was in ‘Cities’ at 35.3%, followed by ‘Satellite urban towns’ at 31.7%. The lowest proportion was 18.3% in ‘Highly rural/remote areas’, (see Figure 7.1 and Table 7.1).
‘Upper secondary’ was the highest level of education for 27.5% of those who had ceased full-time education in 2016. This rate varied across the country, with the highest rate of 30.7% in ‘Independent urban towns’ and the lowest of 24.6% in ‘Cities’.
The proportion of people in ‘Highly rural/remote areas’ with lower secondary education as their highest level of education dropped from 43.2% in 2011 to 37.7% in 2016, a drop of 5.5 percentage points.
The largest percentage point increase in a level of education was in ‘Cities’ for those with postgraduate attainment, which rose from 11.8% to 14.3% between 2011 and 2016.
| % with at least third level degree | |
| State | 28.2 |
| Cities | 35.3 |
| Satellite urban towns | 31.7 |
| Independent urban towns | 22 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence | 27.8 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence | 21.5 |
| Highly rural/remote areas | 18.3 |
Women are more likely to be educated to at least degree level, with 30.8% having a third level degree or postgraduate qualification compared to 25.5% of men. This gap is strongest in ‘Rural areas with a moderate urban influence’, where 26.6% of women are educated to least degree level compared to 16.5% of men.
Conversely, men are more likely to be educated to at most lower secondary level, with 29.8% of men in this group compared to 24.9% of women. ‘Rural areas with a moderate urban influence’ has the largest gap, with 27.3% of women educated to a most lower secondary level compared to 39.0% of men.
| Postgraduate | Third level degree | Third level non-degree | Upper secondary | Lower seecondary | No formal/Primary | Not stated | |
| Cities - 2016 | 14.3 | 21.1 | 9 | 24.6 | 12.3 | 11.1 | 7.7 |
| Cities - 2011 | 11.8 | 19.4 | 8.7 | 26.7 | 14.6 | 13.9 | 5 |
| Satellite urban towns - 2016 | 10.9 | 20.8 | 12.3 | 29.6 | 12.8 | 8.5 | 5.1 |
| Satellite urban towns - 2011 | 8.8 | 18.7 | 11.6 | 31.6 | 14.9 | 10.4 | 3.9 |
| Independent urban towns - 2016 | 6.7 | 15.3 | 10.6 | 30.7 | 15.8 | 13.9 | 7 |
| Independent urban towns - 2011 | 5.8 | 13.9 | 10 | 31.4 | 17.4 | 16.2 | 5.3 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence - 2016 | 9.1 | 18.7 | 12.8 | 27.9 | 15.5 | 11.4 | 4.6 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence - 2011 | 7.1 | 16.3 | 12.1 | 29.3 | 17.7 | 13.9 | 3.7 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence - 2016 | 6.2 | 15.3 | 12.2 | 28.2 | 17.8 | 15.3 | 4.9 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence - 2011 | 4.7 | 12.9 | 11.1 | 28.7 | 20 | 18.6 | 3.9 |
| Highly rural/remote areas - 2016 | 5.3 | 13 | 10.8 | 27.3 | 18.1 | 19.6 | 5.9 |
| Highly rural/remote areas - 2011 | 4.1 | 11.1 | 9.7 | 27.2 | 19.8 | 23.4 | 4.6 |
In the 2016 Census, there were 120,106 residents aged 19 to 22 years who were defined as students and for whom a valid Protected Identifier Key (PIK) was assigned, (see Appendix 1: Data Sources).
The largest number of students was in ‘Cities’ (38,696), while the smallest number was 11,090 from ‘Highly rural/remote areas’.
More than half of all people aged 19-22 were students in all the area types, except for ‘Independent urban towns’ where the proportion was 47.6%.
Note that these numbers include students present at their home address and students temporarily away at college on Census night.
| Proportion of students among age group | |
| State | 56.5 |
| Cities | 54.6 |
| Satellite urban towns | 54.7 |
| Independent urban towns | 47.6 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence | 64.8 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence | 61.7 |
| Highly rural/remote areas | 58.9 |
There were 49,243 students aged 19-22 who applied for a Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) grant, see Table 7.2, or 41.0% of all students. The proportion of students applying for a grant varied widely across the country with the highest proportion of 54.9% in ‘Highly rural/remote areas’, followed by 49.4% in ‘Independent urban towns’.
The lowest proportions of students applying for a grant was 33.2% in ‘Cities’ and 37.6% in ‘Satellite urban towns’.
| Proportion of students 19-22 that applied (%) | |
| State | 41 |
| Cities | 33.2 |
| Satellite urban towns | 37.6 |
| Independent urban towns | 49.4 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence | 38.6 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence | 47.7 |
| Highly rural/remote areas | 54.9 |
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