Wexford failing to make the grade on third level graduates

COUNTY HAS THE WORST RECORD IN COUNTRY FOR THIRD LEVEL GRADUATES

COUNTY WEXFORD has the lowest number of third-level graduates, and one of the lowest ages of education completion, according to the latest Census 2016 report on Education, Skills and the Irish Language.

Wexford saw just 32.5% of its population in 2016 being in receipt of a third-level qualification. By contrast, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown had a figure of 61.1% of college graduates. The national average stands at 42%.

The county also ranks in the bottom five in terms of length of time spent in education. While the national average age of completion of education stands at 19.9 years, the average in Wexford is 18.9 year.

Breaking it down further, 15,908 people (16.6%) indicated that they had completed their education at primary level/had no formal education, while 18,703 (19.5%) finished their education after second level, with 30,263 people (31.5%) doing so at upper secondary level. The respective percentages in 2011 were: 19.1%, 21.4% and 31.4%.

Of those aged 15 and over in April 2016, 31,215 (32.5%) had a third-level qualification with 60.1% of female graduates and 39.9% of male graduates.

Among females, 11,947 of those had a third-level degree compared to 9,698 in 2011. Among males, there was also an increase with 7,931 acquiring a third-level degree, in comparison to 6,410 in 2011.

The number of PhD holders increased by 87 (31.6%) to 362.

In relation to the Irish Language, at the time of the latest census, 51,230 people aged over three, stated that they could speak Irish, an increase on the 2011 figure of 50,936. Irish speakers comprised 35.6% of the county’s population, compared to 36.8% in 2011. The national average was 39.8%.

1,191 people spoke Irish daily, outside of the education system according to the figures – 30 more than the 2011 figure. They made up 0.8% of the county’s population, compared to the national average of 1.7%.

Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician for the Central Statistics Office, said: ‘This report shows continuing declines in the numbers of early school leavers and increases in the numbers with third level qualifications. It examines and analyses changes in these areas as well as the relationships between the level of education completed and employment and economic status.’