ONE THIRD IN LOUTH ATTEND THIRD LEVEL
Just over a third of people in County Louth over the age of 15 have a third level qualification, according to new figures released from the CSO. The figures from the 2016 census looking at Education, skills and the Irish Language show that 56.1% of third level graduates in Louth were female. According to the figures, in Louth, 12,150 people (15.8%) indicated that they had completed their education at primary level/had no formal education, while 13,875 (18.0%) did so at lower secondary level and 22,687 (29.5%) did so at upper secondary level.
The respective percentages in 2011 were 18.7%, 20.2% and 29.5%.
Of those aged 15 and over in the county in April 2016, some 28,175 (36.6%) had a third-level qualification.
Females accounted for 56.1% of all graduates, with males comprising 43.9%. Among females, 10,764 (27.3%) had a third-level degree compared with 8,887 in 2011.
Among males, 8,437 (22.5%) had a third-level degree compared with 6,770 in 2011. The number of people with a doctorate (Ph.D.) increased by 109 (37.5%) to 400.
Among those aged 15 and over and who had completed their education, the average age of completion was 19.3 years, an increase of 0.7 years on 2011. The average completion age at national level was 19.9 years. In April 2016, of those aged 3 and over in the county, 42,047 people stated that they could speak Irish, a slight decrease on the 42,106 who stated they could do so in 2011. T hey comprised 34.1% of the county’s population, compared with 36.1% in 2011. Nationally, 39.8% of those aged 3 and over indicated that they could speak Irish.
The 1,177 people who spoke Irish daily outside of the education system was 20 more than in 2011 (+1.7%).
They comprised 1.0% of the population aged 3 and over, compared with 1.7% at national level.
Nationally, 42.0% (1,216,945) of the population aged 15 and over had a third level qualification in 2016 and 1.76 million people aged three and over indicated that they could speak Irish.