Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 June 2026
280. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of students who have withdrawn from higher education courses during their first year of study in each of the past five academic years; the reasons identified; and the measures being taken to improve retention rates. [44353/26]
View answerThe Higher Education Authority (HEA) publishes data annually on the proportion of students who do not progress from first year to second year of higher education. According to the most recent data available, the rate of new entrants who did not progress to the second year of their programme was 11% in the 2022/2023 academic year.
The reasons for a student not progressing to their second year can vary. The full report is available on the HEA website here: https://hea.ie/statistics/data-for-download-and-visualisations/students/progression/report/non-progression-academic/.
This information is shared with the Higher Education Institutions providing insights to non-progression of students and how this can be mitigated by retention strategies and improving education supports available to students.
