Press release

Ministers McEntee, Lawless and Foley announce publication of Education Indicators for Ireland 2024

From: Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Published on: 10 July 2025
Last updated on: 10 July 2025

Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless and Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley have today (10 July) announced the publication of the next edition of Education Indicators for Ireland 2024.

The report presents a comprehensive set of indicators for the education system in Ireland, including a snapshot of the system in the 2023/24 school year and a look back at how the system progressed over the five years from 2019 to 2023.

For the first time, the 2024 Indicators report includes a dedicated chapter on education in early childhood as well as spanning primary and post-primary school levels, further and higher education and lifelong learning.

Key indicators highlighted in the report include:

Early Learning and Care

early learning and care provision has seen steady increases in enrolments since 2021
staffed capacity for full-day provision for children under three has steadily increased since the introduction of the Core Funding Scheme, with increasing numbers of children in this age cohort now availing of the National Childcare Scheme

Primary and Post-Primary

a rise in the overall number of teachers
a continued fall in the pupil-teacher ratio at both primary and post-primary level
an increase in the number of special needs assistants
an increase in the total number of students taking the Leaving Certificate programme

Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

growth in the number of students supported by grants
an increase and broadening in the apprentice population
increased uptake of courses on green skills

Minister McEntee said:

“I am so pleased to welcome the publication of today’s Education Indicators report – the first of its kind to comprehensively cover education at all stages from early learning and care, through primary and post-primary education to further and higher education and lifelong learning. In presenting a snapshot of the entire education system as it is now, the report shares extensive insights which will be invaluable in helping to formulate future education policy.

“The report illustrates the great strides which have been made in education in recent years, while also highlighting the significance of areas where work is being prioritised to continue to improve the teaching and learning experience for our school communities. Numbers of teachers and SNAs continue to rise, while our pupil-teacher ratios and primary class sizes have decreased. It is heartening to see also that DEIS post-primary school retention rates have increased to 90% in 2023. I am committed to doing more to support our school communities and students to ensure that there is continued progress across the education sector.”

Minister Lawless said:

“The breadth of this report shows the wide and flexible array of learning opportunities available, and it is heartening to see evidence of a continued appetite for learning, whether it be in higher education, further education, or on an apprenticeship. We nevertheless have work before us to ensure that these opportunities to flourish are accessible for all.

"This represents a vital mission. Education, skills, and, critically, their interplay with the wider research and innovation system, will be essential to our tackling the most significant challenges that we face as a society.”

Minister Foley said:

“Investment in early learning and care is a key priority for this government given the enormous benefits it confers to children, their families as well as society and the economy.

“Today’s report highlights the significant progress we have made in ensuring all children have access to early learning and childcare that is of the highest quality.

“We have more children than ever, including children with a disability, participating in early learning and care, more families supported to offset the cost of early learning and care and more educators and practitioners working in the sector – with a year-on-year increase in the proportion of educators with degree qualifications.

“I am committed to continuing to make further progress on the positive trends we see in this report through delivery of an ambitious work programme that has been committed to in the Programme for Government.”

The full report is available online.

Notes

Findings

Early Learning and Care

early learning and care enrolments have risen each year in the period 2021-2024, with an increase from 148,993 in 2023 to 155,414 in 2024
the number of children availing of supports under the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) has risen in the same period (2021-2024) from 4,238 to 8,152
the number of children under three availing of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) has grown from 19,498 to 33,395 in the 2021-2024 period, an increase of 71% or almost 4,600 per annum
almost one in four (24.4%) children under three were in formal childcare in 2024, up from 22.1% in 2023
almost all children aged between three and five (95.6%) were in formal childcare in 2024, up from 94.1% in 2023
the early learning and care workforce has increased in the period 2019-2023 by 17%, from 30,363 to 35,525

Primary and Post-Primary Education

total teaching posts rose to 76,223 (up13.9% since 2019)
Pupil–Teacher Ratios (PTR) decreased to 12.8 (primary) and 12.2 (post-primary)
primary class sizes fell from an average of 24.1 to 22.5
NEPS casework grew significantly in 23/24, support over 10,000 children and young people
DEIS post-primary school retention improved from 83.8% (2019) to 90.0% (2023)
special school enrolment grew by 12.4% to 8,827 students. Special class enrolment in mainstream schools rose sharply (primary up 70.8%, post-primary up 98.9%)
SNA numbers rose, particularly in special schools

Further Education and Training and Higher Education

the post-primary to higher education transition rate increased to 64.7% in 2023. At the same time, the gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools narrowed by 2.7%, suggestive of improved equality of access to higher education
over 78,000 learners were supported by grants in their full-time enrolment in higher education in 2023, up notably from just over 60,000 in the previous year
in the first year of reporting, 45% of higher education learners surveyed who required accommodation resided in purpose-built student accommodation
postgraduate research enrolments continued to increase in 2023, with increases in both full-time (+1.5%) and part-time (+7.2%) enrolments on PhD programmes
the total number of registrations on courses for Near-Zero Energy Building/Retrofit skills had increased almost ten-fold from 455 in 2019 to close to 4,500 in 2023
close to 15,000 learners (6.8%) in further education and training in 2023 reported having at least one disability
in 2023 the apprenticeship population continued to increase, approaching 27,500, and to diversify, with almost 16% on consortia-led programmes
total apprenticeship certifications rose to their highest value in the observed period, surpassing 4,500 in 2023
the latest Adult Education Survey, conducted in 2022, revealed that 48.3% of adults had engaged in formal or non-formal learning in the previous 12 months, up 2.3% since the previous survey in 2017