Apprenticeship Profile
The National Apprenticeship Office uses Deprivation Index Scores (DIS) to assess the socio-economic profiles of Apprentices in Ireland in collaboration with the HEA. Widening participation for equity of access is of utmost importance to ensure the apprentice population reflects the diversity of the wider population in Ireland and includes people from under-represented groups, including those leaving care and members of the Traveller community. Data and evidence in this area is crucial to policy makers to drive and implement change and further promote accessibility of apprenticeship to all irrespective of background. This chapter looks at DIS profiles of apprentices under the following categories, gender, apprenticeship type and NFQ level, employment region and county for apprentices registering in years 2021-2023.
Consortia Led Apprenticeships (CLA): Apprenticeship Programmes developed since 2016 in sectors such as finance, ICT, engineering, hospitality, and healthcare, with varying durations and levels (NFQ level 5-10).
Craft Apprenticeships (Craft): Traditional four-year craft apprenticeships established before the 2016 expansion of the apprenticeship system in Ireland offering craft trades such as plumbing, electrical or carpentry (NFQ level 6) .
The Average DIS Score for apprentices in Apprenticeships over the period 2021/2023 was -1.6.
DIS Coverage was consistently over 90% for the 2021/2023 period.
Overall for the period 2021/2023 the average DIS Scores for all apprentices was -1.6.
9% of Apprentices were Affluent compared to 18% who were Disadvantaged. There were slightly more apprentices who’s home address was Marginally Above Average (40%) versus Marginally Below Average (33%).
By Gender The average DIS score among Males was -1.7 versus -0.2 for females, the percentage of Male and Females who were Disadvantaged or Marginally Below Average was similar between Genders (Combined Male (52%) versus Female (47%)). The percentage of Affluent apprentices was slightly higher among Females versus Males 14% versus 8%.
Across Employer Regions the regions with the highest average DIS Score was Cork (1.1), Galway/Roscommon (0.4) and Limerick/Clare (-1.0).
By Apprentices Home County the most Affluent counties were Kildare (1.7), Cork (1.2) and Galway (1.2) in contrast the counties with the lowest DIS averages were Donegal (5.8), Wexford (5.0) and Offaly/Longford (4.2).
In terms of percentage breakdowns the county with the highest percentage of Affluent apprentices was Kildare with 15% of its apprentices Affluent this was compared to the overall average of 9%. The counties with the most Disadvantaged apprentices were Dublin and Donegal with 28% in this category, Dublin also had a higher than average Affluent percentage of apprentices also at 14%.
