FET Facts and Figures 2024

FET Statistics

In 2024, 230,007 unique learners were enrolled in FET courses. Of these enrolments, 181,011 learners partially or fully completed their course(s). Of the 181,011 learner completions, 108,065 of these learner completions were certified.

Enrolments

In 2024, there were 230,007 learner enrolments. Of these learner enrolments, 61% were female and 39% were male. The distribution of enrolments was higher among part-time courses (64.9%), than full-time courses (28.9%), with a small percentage (6.2%) also undertaking online courses.

Start Age

Enrolments were primarily concentrated among the under-25s, representing over one third of all enrolments in 2024.

Enrolments by Age Group:

• Under-25: 70,439
• 25-34: 34,033
• 35-44: 41,561
• 45-54: 33,091
• 55-64: 24,332
• 65+: 26,551

Highest Level of Formal Education

In 2024, 53,916 (26.3%) of learners had a lower secondary education or below when enrolling in an FET course, whereas 65,027 (31.6%) learners had an upper secondary education. The figure also shows that 30,092 (14.6%) of learners had a post-secondary non-tertiary education, an education group primarily comprised of individuals enrolled in FET level 4-6 courses (e.g., Post Leaving Certificate and Back to Education Initiative). In addition, the figure shows that 7,376 (3.6%) learners had a short-cycle tertiary education and 49,533 (24%) learners had a third level degree education.

Enrolments by Highest Level of Formal Education:

• Third level: 49,533
• Short-cycle tertiary: 7,376
• Post-secondary non-tertiary: 30,092
• Upper secondary: 65,027
• Lower secondary: 30,446
• Primary and below: 23,470

Note: This calculation is an estimate and includes only those cases where previous levels of education were captured.

Highest Level of Formal Education by Start Age

The under-25 age group had the highest concentration among upper secondary, lower secondary and primary and below levels of education prior to enrolment, whereas the 35-44 age group had the highest concentration among those learners with post-secondary non-tertiary and those learners with third level education. For short-cycle tertiary non-degree education, the age groups were distributed relatively evenly.

Note: This calculation is an estimate and includes only those cases where previous levels of education and age were captured.

Principal Economic Status (Prior to Enrolment)

In 2024, 31.1% of learners were unemployed prior to enrolment, while 33.7% were employed. The remaining 35.2% of learners were inactive prior to enrolment.

Of those learners who were unemployed, 49.5% were long-term unemployed.

Principal Economic Status Breakdown:

• Employed: 33.7% (68,876)
• Unemployed: 31.1% (63,526)
• Inactive for other reasons: 12.8% (26,061)
• Student/Trainee: 10% (20,447)
• Engaged in home duties: 8.3% (16,951)
• Retired: 4.1% (8,433)

Note: This calculation is an estimate and includes only cases where previous principal economic status was captured.

Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) or Equivalent

Enrolments by NFQ Level:

• Level 5 Certificate: 64,789
• Advanced/Higher Certificate: 16,970
• Non-NFQ aligned FET: 16,998
• Level 4 Certificate: 18,731
• Level 3 Certificate: 19,622
• Level 2 Certificate: 11,793
• Level 1 Certificate: 7,968
• Level 4/5 Certificate: 1,509
• Ordinary & Honours Bachelor Degree/Higher Diploma: 388

Note: This excludes learners enrolled in courses that do not lead to an award through a recognised awarding body.

Programme Category

Summary of Enrolments by Programme Category:

• Full-time: Enrolments were concentrated among Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses (47,479), Specific Skills Training (13,663), and Youthreach (4,870) programmes.
• Part-time: Enrolments were concentrated among Community Education (46,360), ESOL (38,335), and Adult Literacy Groups (34,153).
• Part-time & Full-time: Skills to Advance had 17,288 learners.
• Online: e-Learning had 2,890 learners and eCollege had 2,838 learners.

Note: Learners are unique within programmes, but not necessarily across programmes.

Field of Study (Broad ISCED)

Overall, enrolments were primarily concentrated among the generic programmes and qualifications ISCED field of study, representing close to half (56.6%) of all enrolments in 2024. This was followed by health and welfare (8.5%), business, administration and law (8.3%), and services (8%).

Enrolments by Broad Field of Study (ISCED):

• Generic programmes and qualifications: 56.6%
• Health and welfare: 8.5%
• Business, administration and law: 8.3%
• Services: 8%
• Education: 2.2%
• ICT: 4.4%
• Engineering, manufacturing and construction: 5.5%
• Arts and humanities: 4.1%
• Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary: 1.6%
• Social sciences, journalism and information: 0.2%
• Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics: 0.7%

Note: Field of study is defined according to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).

Field of Study (Broad ISCED) by Delivery Type

For full-time learner enrolments, generic programmes and qualifications and services had the highest numbers of learners. In addition, services and health and welfare also had high numbers of full-time enrolments. For part-time learner enrolments, generic programmes and qualifications had the highest numbers of learners. This was followed by health and welfare and services. Among online learner enrolments, Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) had the highest number of learners. This was followed by business, administration and law and services.

County of Residence

The distribution of learners by county of residence is detailed below:

Note: This calculation is an estimate and excludes non-responses, unknown responses and those learners with a county of residence in Northern Ireland.

Nationality

In 2024, there were 200 different nationalities enrolled in FET.

Learner Nationality Distribution:

• Europe: 88.2% (191,022)
• Africa: 5.3% (11,385)
• Asia: 4.3% (9,290)
• Americas: 2.2% (4,826)
• Oceania: 0.1% (137)

The majority of unique learners were nationals of Ireland (65.8%), followed by the Non-EU (24.9%), the EU (7.7%) and the United Kingdom (1.7%).

Note: This calculation is an estimate and includes only those cases where nationality was captured.

Country of Birth

Learner Country of Birth Distribution:

• Europe: 85.8% (165,764)
• Africa: 5.3% (10,220)
• Asia: 4.9% (9,505)
• Americas: 2.8% (5,407)
• Oceania: 1.2% (2,277)

The majority of learners were born in Ireland (64%), followed by Non-EU (27.2%), the EU (5.8%) and the United Kingdom (2.9%).

Note: This calculation is an estimate and includes only those cases where country of birth was captured.

Completions

In 2024, there were 181,011 learner completions. Of these learner completions, 61.5% were female and 38.5% were male. The distribution of completions was higher among part-time courses (72.6%), than full-time courses (21.3%), with a small percentage (6.1%) completing online courses.

Completions by Start Age

Learner Completions by Start Age:

• Under-25: 47,819
• 25-34: 26,317
• 35-44: 33,791
• 45-54: 27,601
• 55-64: 21,190
• 65+: 24,293

Field of Study (Broad ISCED) - Completions

Overall, generic programmes and qualifications had the highest numbers of learners, with 61.8% of learner completions in this field of study. This was followed by services (8.9%), business, administration and law (6.9%), and health and welfare (6.8%).

Completions by Broad Field of Study (ISCED):

• Generic programmes and qualifications: 61.8%
• Services: 8.9%
• Business, administration and law: 6.9%
• Health and welfare: 6.8%
• Engineering, manufacturing and construction: 5.7%
• ICT: 3.4%
• Arts and humanities: 3%
• Education: 1.7%
• Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary: 1.2%
• Social sciences, journalism and information: 0.1%
• Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics: 0.5%

Field of Study (Broad ISCED) by Delivery Type - Completions

For full-time learner completions, generic programmes and qualifications and services had the highest numbers of learners. In addition, health and welfare, and arts and humanities also had high numbers of full-time completions. For part-time completions, generic programmes and qualifications accounted for 77.2% of all part-time completions. This was followed by services, health and welfare and engineering, manufacturing and construction. Among online completions, services had the highest number of completions. This was followed by business, administration and law and generic programmes and qualifications.

Principal Economic Status (Prior to Completion)

In 2024, 31.2% of learners were unemployed prior to completion, while 33.2% were employed. The remaining 35.6% of learners were inactive prior to completion.

Principal Economic Status Breakdown (Prior to Completion):

• Employed: 33.2% (53,150)
• Inactive for other reasons: 35.6% (Calculated from remaining categories)
• Unemployed: 31.2% (49,868)
• Student/Trainee: 11.6% (18,506)
• Engaged in home duties: 8.6% (13,686)
• Retired: 4.3% (6,935)

Note: This calculation is an estimate and includes only those cases where previous principal economic status was captured.

Certified Completions

Certified Completions by Outcomes:

In 2024, the certification rate (full + partially certified) was 74.9%. Of the remaining certified learner completions, 2.4% were waiting for certification details, and 22.7% did not achieve certification.

Certified Completions by Award Level:

In 2024, 38.6% of certified completions were at level 5, whereas 10% were at an advanced or higher certificate level, 12.4% were at level 4 and 12.6% were at level 3. In addition, 13.9% of certified completions were non-NFQ aligned FET awards.

Certified Completions by Field of Study (Broad ISCED), Award Level and Outcomes

Detailed breakdowns of certified completions by Field of Study (Broad ISCED), Award Level, and Outcomes are provided in the following tables.

Note: Please note that any learner activity count less than 5 is replaced by an asterisk in this table. Please note a double asterisk is used when a column/row total could reveal a low cell count in that column/row.

Definition of Terms

Activity: The sum of learners multiplied by the number of courses which they have been enrolled in or completed within a programme or across different programmes, or providers during 2024.

Certified Completions: In the FET sector, not all learner completions lead to an award through a recognised awarding body in the FET sector. Therefore, certified completions refer only to the total number of certified completions in 2024.

Certification Rate: The proportion of full and partial learner completions who achieved certification to all learners who completed a certified course in 2024.

Completions: Completions include the total number of learners who fully or partially completed their course during 2024. Completions exclude those learners who may have left their course early (e.g., early leavers).

Enrolments: Enrolments are defined as learners who are on course or have completed a course during 2024.

Field of Study: This is defined and categorised by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). Both broad (2-digit) and detailed (4-digit) fields of study are used for categorising Further Education and Training course fields of study.

Full Completions: Learners who have completed 90 per cent or more of the course and its requirements in 2024.

Inactive: This term is used according to the Eurostat and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition which defines inactive as individuals who are neither employed nor unemployed and are not working and not available or looking for work. Inactive in this report includes those learners engaged in home duties, retired, student/trainees, and those inactive for other reasons.

Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ): This is a framework through which all learning achievements may be measured and related to each other in a coherent way. The many different types and sizes of qualifications included in the NFQ are organised based on their level of knowledge, skill and competence. In some cases, where awards have not been placed on the Irish NFQ, equivalent levels are assigned based on the document ‘Qualifications can cross boundaries' and the level assigned to the award on the relevant country's framework (e.g., Cf. Ofqual, Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, etc.).

Learner: A unique individual who has progressed onto a course in the application process. The total number of learners is the sum of all unique individuals in Further Education and Training in 2024.

Long-term Unemployed: This refers to any person who is unemployed for 12 months or more.

Non-NFQ Aligned courses: This includes completions with certification not aligned with the NFQ.

On Course: This refers to those learners who were still on course as of December 31st, 2024.

Partial Completions: Learners who have completed more than 25 percent but less than 90 percent of a course and its requirements in 2024.

Post-secondary Non-tertiary: This refers to Post Leaving Certificate NFQ Level 4 or 5, Advanced Certificate NFQ Level 6, other non-NFQ aligned FET, Certificate NFQ Level 4, or Certificate NFQ Level 5.

Short-cycle Tertiary: This refers to third level non-degree courses and includes higher certificate NFQ level 6 courses and diploma NFQ level 7 courses. These courses are usually of one year in duration and are often vocational in nature.

Third Level: This refers to Ordinary Bachelor degree, Honours Bachelor degree, Professional, Post-Graduate, Doctorate or Higher degree courses.

Contact Information

For further information, please contact:

The Data Analytics Unit
SOLAS
Block 1, Castleforbes House
Castleforbes Road, Dublin 1
solasdataanalytics@solas.ie

SOLAS.ie