Non-progression rates by Higher Education Institution, NFQ level and Field of Study
This section has two tables that allow the user to investigate the non-progression rates of new entrants by Higher Education Institution or Field of Study (ISCED broad) and NFQ Level (Levels 6 to 8). The user can filter by academic year of entry, Field of Study and NFQ Level to view the non-progression rates for different combinations of variables and therefore different academic cohorts. For example, the user can filter by Field of Study to view the non-progression of entrants to say, Arts and Humanities or any other Field of Study or indeed combinations of Fields of Study. The non-progression rates for filtered groups can be compared with the overall/average non-progression rate for the particular year.
Academic year:
By default the tables below will display the non-progression rate for 2019/20, the most recent year for which this data is available. To view data for any of the years 2015/16 to 2018/19, the user can select as required from the academic year filter. Note that only one year can be viewed at a time. To view the trend in non-progression rates for new entrants for all years 2015/16 to 2019/20, please visit the Trends in Non-Progression Rates: 2015-16 to 2019-20.
NFQ
Both tables by default show the non-progression rates separately for Level 6, Level 7 and Level 8 as well as the overall total all-Levels non-progression rate. However, users can use the NFQ filter to show only the non-progression rates for a single NFQ Level or (more usually) a combination of NFQ Levels. For example, the user may wish to compare the non-progression rates of Level 8 (Honours Degrees) entrants with those of Level 6 and 7 combined. In this case, the user should select Levels 6 and 7. So whereas the overall non-progression rate is 9%, by selecting Level 6 and 7 only, we can see that the combined Level 6 and 7 non-progression rate is 18% (Note: not all institutions offer Level 6/7 programmes to full-time undergraduate new entrants). Note also, that the overall progression rate for the relevant academic year is displayed for comparative purposes. (Examples are from 2019/20 data).
Fields of Study
There is also significant variation in non-progression rates across the Fields of Study. Excluding Generic Programmes (because of the low number of entrants), the non-progression rates range from 3% in Education to 16% in Services. Variations in non-progression rates by NFQ Levels within institutions and within fields of study can be observed; for example, in one institution, the non-progression rate is 32% at Level 6, while the rate in the same institution at Level 8 is 9%, equal to the national average. Similarly, the non-progression rate in the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) field of study ranges from 32% at Level 6 to 12% at Level 8. Similarly extreme ranges can be observed in Engineering, Manufacturing & Construction (from 6% at Level 8 to 25% at Level 6) and in Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics (from 6% at Level 8 to 20% at Level 6). While the overall non-progression rates fell for the 2019/20 entrants, similar disparities in non-progression rates continue to be observed across Fields of Study and NFQ Levels.
By default, the first table shows the overall non-progression rates for all Fields of Study. The user can use the Field of Study (ISCED) filter to view the non-progression rate by a particular field of study or indeed a combination of fields of study. So, if the user selects Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), they can see that the overall non-progression rate is 15% in 2019/20 (compared to the overall non-progression rate of 9% in the same year). They can also see the variation in the rate of non-progression by NFQ Level: 12% at Level 8, but 32% and 25% at Levels 6 and 7 respectively. The user can also see the non-progression rates for individual HEIs, ranging from 3% at Level 8 in one institution to 39% at Level 6 in another.
The first table displays non-progression rates by all HEIs by default. Both tables can be filtered by the same variables, but the main purpose of the first table is to allow view of non-progression rates by individual or all HEIs, or indeed to compare non-progression rates by selected HEIs in the same view (by selecting the required HEIs from the HEI dropdown).
Interpreting the data
The key aim of this analysis is to identify cohorts of students most at risk of non-progression. It is clear that non-progression rates are much higher at Levels 6 and 7 than at Level 8 – 16%, 18% and 8% respectively in 2019/20), and that this variation is more marked within some institutions than others. The next section, Non-Progression by Student Characteristics will allow the user to further explore the student characteristics may be related to these non-progression rates.
The user should be cautious about drawing firm conclusions from combinations of variables that result in low numbers of entrants. For example, a 50% non-progression rate for a given combination of variables may have resulted from five students out of ten not progressing. Therefore, the tool-tip will enable the user to see if the cohort of new entrants is less than 25. The tool-tip can be viewed by hovering over the chart. The user can investigate non-progression rates further by more detailed student characteristics.
Non-progression rates by Higher Education Institution and NFQ Level
Non-progression rates by Field of Study and NFQ Level
