Participation in higher education by students disadvantaged by socio-economic barriers
This data is derived from the Equal Access Survey, a voluntary survey which collects information on the social, economic and ethnic background of new students who enter higher education for the first time, and the Census. 2012/13 and 2016/17 data refers to father’s socio-economic group and cannot be updated for 2017/18 at this point. Only students on full-time courses who identified Ireland as their country of residence are included.
Ongoing implementation of the Data Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education will allow for more in-depth analysis and reporting of students and their socio-economic backgrounds. Deprivation Index Scores (DIS) measure the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area based on data compiled from the census. Using this information, the HEA has analysed the socio-economic profile of nearly all (94%) of the student population on an individual institutional level. This data for 2018/19 is available to view here. Further information and key findings can also be found in the official press release here.