Ms Caitríona Murphy:

The research over the last five years includes the period of Covid. For us, a class starting with 14 phase 2 apprentices normally finishes with 14 or maybe 13 if something has happened such an illness although normally, that person leaves and comes back again. We want to get apprentices through the phases within four years and the people involved in craft apprenticeships are really determined to get through the phases. As many people have mentioned here, it is difficult to get all of the skilled people that we need so we are seeing very high rates of completion. The completion rate for phase 2 is a good indicator and I suggest that the dropout rates are quite low when compared with other programmes. Generally, in further education and training, FET, retention rates are high because the classes are small and inclusive. We also make sure that everyone gets to the next stage and the next step up.