Written answers
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Departmental Data
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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578. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the name of the schools in counties Dublin, Wicklow, Carlow, Laois, Offaly, Kildare and Meath undertaking the transition year programme in the current academic year; the number of pupils undertaking the programme in each of the identified schools, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1067/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Transition Year is a valuable optional programme for pupils that offers opportunities for life skills, personal, social and academic development and exploration of future pathways in an environment away from the pressures of state examinations.
In 2022, I announced an ambitious programme of work for a re-imagined Senior Cycle of education and directed that a new Transition Year Programme Statement would be developed and introduced for schools. The Programme Statement, which was published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in August 2024, provides a framework for schools to develop their own Transition Year programmes within set guidelines and advocates four Student Dimensions as the core foundations upon which Transition Year programmes should be designed.
As part of my 2022 announcement, I outlined my ambition that every student who wants to take part in Transition Year (TY) should have the option to do so. At present, virtually all schools offer the Transition Year programme and the number of students doing TY has never been higher. There has been a sustained growth in both the number of schools offering Transition Year and the number of students participating in it over recent years. The percentage of students entering Transition Year has risen from 74% in the 2019/20 school year to just over 80% in the 2023/24 school year when measured as a percentage of students completing third year in the previous school year. This year, in the 2024/25 school year, that percentage has remained consistent at just over 80% of students choosing Transition Year. This has led to a record number of enrolments in Transition Year programmes across the country this year at 60,518 students based on provisional data.
Final data for enrolment by school in each programme offered by that school in respect of the current school year will be published later in this school year in accordance with past practice. The published data by programme by school, including data on those participating in Transition Year, is available at: .
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