Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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76. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who left education before completing primary, secondary and third level education or training in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11036/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Primary Education:

The information requested by the Deputy at primary level is not yet available. One of the many benefits of the introduction of the Primary Online Database is that it will enable the progress of children through the education system to be accurately monitored. From 2015/2016 onwards the Primary Online Database will provide the Department with the capacity to compile this vital information on children that do not make the transition from primary to post-primary education.

Secondary Education:

At secondary level, the following information is taken from the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Retention reports by the Department of Education and Skills, on school retention in Ireland. It is based on a detailed analysis of the records held in the Department's Post-Primary Pupils Database (PPPDB) for the cohort of entrants to the first year of the junior cycle in the years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 who sat the Leaving Certificate Examinations in the years from 2009 to 2014. The Department will produce a report on the 2009 cohort for those who sat the Leaving Certificate in 2015 by June this year. See Table 1.

For more detailed information on these cohorts please visit the DES website for the full report:

Third Level Education:

The overall new entrant non-progression rate was 15% in 2007/08 and has remained constant at 16% from 2010/11 to 2012/13. While the number of new entrants increased from 2007/08 to 2012/13, the number of students who did not progress to the following year of study, also increased between these periods. Of note, the rate of non-progression at level 6 in the institute of technology sector shows an incline from 2007/08 of 25% to 30% in 2010/11 and 2011/12. This declined to 26% in 2012/13. In the colleges sector (level 8), the non-progression rate remains consistent at 4% with the exception of 2012/13 where a two percentage point difference is observed. However, the numbers remain very small overall for this sector and so small differences may appear significant. See Table 2. As part of the implementation of the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-19, a working group is being established to address the issue of non-progression and non-completion in higher education.

Further Education and Training:

The information on Further Education and Training is being compiled and will be sent directly to the Deputy.

Table 1: National Leaving Certificate Retention Rate for 2004 - 2008 cohorts