Completion - Summary
The HEA deems new entrants as having completed or graduated if they are recorded as having gained an award between the year subsequent to entry and the most recent year for which graduation records are available. Given that course at Level 6 to Level 8 have durations ranging from 2 to 5+ years and given that students may repeat or take breaks in their studies, the completion data for earlier years is deemed more relevant. For example, 78% of 2016/17 new entrants have gained an award as of graduation year 2023. By contrast, only 1% of 2020/21 new entrants have received an award as of 2023.
While students may earn interim, exit or minor awards in place or or in addition to their final target award, the majority of students (97%) gain an award of the same type as the target award. The following table uses the more expansive definition:
- The highest rates of completion are in the field of Education, with 93% of new entrants on average between 2016/17 and 2018/19 gaining an award as of 2023 (this rises to 97% when those who did not progress to year 2 are excluded).
- The lowest rates of completion are in ICT, with an average completion rate of 64% for the same three years. Excluding those who did not progress to the following year, this rises to a 77% average completion rate for the same years.
- Overall, 88% of those who progress to the following year go on to gain an award (2016/17 to 2018/19 New Entrants).
- 83% of females who commenced in this period completed, compared to 73% of males. This rises to 91% and 84% respectively when those who did not progress to the second year are excluded.
Please note, in the interactive tables on this and the previous section, completion rates are not shown in cells where the numbers of students are less than 25. This is in line with our statistical disclosure policy.
The completion rates in the above table refer to students who complete an award in their own institution.
The following chart allows users to explore in more detail the outcomes for students who entered in the years 2016/17 to 2018/19. The outcomes are categorized as follows:
- Graduated – Same Award or Field (In general, this will be students who have completed the same course they have commenced on entry)
- Graduated – Different Award or Field
- Graduated – From a Different HEI
- Enrolled in HE in latest year – Student has not gained an award but is enrolled in a HEI as of 2023/24
- Did not gain an award in this period
Note: Remember that completed/graduated in this context refers to students gaining an award between 2017 and 2023. This allows for the possibility that students who did not return subsequently the year after entry may have returned subsequently and gained an award.
Completion - Detailed
Average Time to Completion
Number of years to Completion (Undergraduate programmes)
The HEA did an analysis of graduates to see how many years it takes students to earn an award at the target level (i.e. to complete the award they started). Level 6 Higher Certificates are generally two years in duration, while Level 7 Ordinary Degree courses are generally three years in duration (for entrants into year 1. Students taking add-on years to progress from Level 6 to Level 7 are not included in this analysis). Level 8 Honours Degrees are generally three to four years in duration, but some programmes are longer (e.g. medicine). In addition, students may take longer to complete due to, for example, repeating a year. However, the vast majority of students appear to complete their programs within the expected timeframe.
For new entrants in the years 2016/2017 to 2018/2019, the average times to completion are as follows:
| NFQ Level | Average Number of Years to Completion |
| Level 6 Total | 2.1 |
| Level 7 Total | 3.2 |
| Level 8 Total | 3.9 |
Alternatively, using the ISCED Level of Education classification, the average time to completion is:
| ISCED Level | Average Number of Years to Completion |
| Level 5 | 2.1 |
| Level 6 | 3.8 |
Note: ISCED Level 5 is equivalent to NFQ Level 6; ISCED Level 6 is the combined NFQ Levels 7 and 8.