Progression: Introduction and Methodology
This report examines progression in Irish Higher Education Institutions and follows on from previous reports on progression in Higher Education. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the overall rates of progression and non-progression of undergraduate New Entrants from their first year into the following academic year and also to enable identification of particular cohorts of students with a higher risk of non-progression.
The focus of this section of the analysis is the progression rates of New Entrants in the academic years 2016/17 to 2022/2023. The following sections will look non-progression, with focus on New Entrants in academic year 2022/2023. Finally, there is an expanded section on Completion/Graduation rates for the new entrant cohort from 2016/17 to 2018/2019.
The data source is the HEA’s Student Record System (SRS). Data is returned to the HEA by the Higher Education Institutions on the basis of a census of the student population as of the 01 March of each year. The cohort for the progression analysis is New Entrants, i.e. first-time entrants for full-time undergraduate courses leading to major awards at levels 6, 7, or 8 and of a duration of two or more academic years. The datasets on which these analyses are based were created from the SRS by tracking the student IDs within institutions from the year of entry to the following academic year. A student is deemed to have progressed if they are present in the same institution in the following academic year. In addition, a student is deemed to have transferred if they are identified as present in a different HEI in the following academic year.
The following section provides an overview of the key findings of the progression analysis, accompanied by an interactive chart which users can use to explore progression rates by HEI, Field of Study, NFQ and Gender.
Progression: Key Findings
Progression
The overall rate of progression for 2022/23 New Entrants is 87%. This pre-Covid average rate was 88% (2016/17 to 2018/19).
A student is deemed to have progressed if they are present in their HEI any capacity in the academic year following the year of entry. Students who repeat a year or who change to a different programme, level or mode of study in the following year are considered to have progressed; nevertheless, the vast majority of students progress in the narrower sense of the term.
Note that in general:
- 99% of those who have progressed have progressed to the same programme type (on average 2016/17 to 2022/23)
- 94% of those who have progressed have progressed to the following course year (year 2)
- 94% of those who have progressed are still doing the same course, in as much as this can be measured
- 92% of those that have progressed continue to progress to the third academic year (on average 2016/17 to 2021/22, Level 7 and 8 only)
While 87% of year 1 students progressed within their own institution, a further 2% (on average) were recorded as present in another institution in the following academic year. If these “transfer” students are considered, there is an overall retention/progression rate of 89% (2022/2023 New Entrants).
The bar chart below breaks down the New Entrant population by their status: Progressed, Transferred, Not progressed
