Country reports for Ireland
>> Reducing Inequalities by Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care: Ireland - Country Note
The early years set the foundations for childrens development and learning trajectories in life. Early inequalities can put children on divergent paths, but Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) policies can level opportunities from the start, with lasting economic and social benefits. Addressing gaps in participation in ECEC and strengthening its quality and inclusivity represent essential steps to support young children and families and reduce inequalities. Leveraging insights from recent research, the comparative report Reducing Inequalities by Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care discusses the drivers of inequalities in early childhood and the place of ECEC within the landscape of mitigating policies. It develops a policy roadmap for ECEC to better support equity and inclusion. This country note provides a country-specific overview of Ireland.
Publication date: |
29 January 2025 |
>> Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) Results: Ireland - Country Note
The Survey of Adult Skills offers unique insights on adults proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving. These skills are crucial for both personal and societal success, and form the foundation for continuous learning and innovation. In 2022-23, the survey assessed adults aged 16-65 in 31 countries and economies. By comparing results over time and with those of other participating countries and economies, participants can track the skill levels of its adult population, pinpoint barriers to skill development and use, and craft effective policies to address these challenges.
Publication date: |
10 December 2024 |
>> Education at a Glance 2024: Ireland - Country Note
Education at a Glance is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and a number of accession and partner countries. More than 100 charts and tables in this publication - as well as links to much more available on the educational database - provide key information on the output of educational institutions; the impact of learning across countries; access, participation and progression in education; the financial resources invested in education; and teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of schools. This country note provides a country-specific overview of Ireland.
Publication date: |
10 September 2024 |
>> OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland
The "OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland" provides an independent analysis meant to support Irish authorities in identifying ways to strengthen the resources and supports provided to students at risk of educational disadvantage in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools. The report serves three purposes: i) to provide insights and advice to Irish education authorities; ii) to help other countries understand the Irish approach to equitable education; and iii) to provide input for comparative analyses of the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project. The scope for the analysis in this report covers primary and post-primary education. The focus areas of the review in Ireland are: i) governance, ii) resourcing; iii) capacity building; iv) school-level interventions and v) monitoring and evaluation. This report will be of interest in Ireland and other countries looking to improve the equity of students at risk of educational disadvantage in their education systems.
Publication date: |
18 July 2024 |
>> Country Digital Education Ecosystems and Governance: A Companion to Digital Education Outlook 2023 (Ireland)
This report, linked with the Digital Education Outlook 2023, provides an overview of 29 countries' (or jurisdictions') digital education ecosystem and governance. Each chapter covers the devolution of responsibilities within countries; how it affects digital education; what digital tools for management and teaching and learning are made publicly available to schools, teachers and students; how they are provided or procured; how countries ensure the security, privacy, equity and effectiveness of this digital ecosystem while keeping incentives for private education technology (EdTech) companies. The information and analysis are based on a survey on digital education infrastructure and governance, interviews with national and regional government officials as well as desk-based research. Providing for the first time a holistic view of 29 countries' and jurisdictions' digital education ecosystem and governance, this report will be of interest to policy makers, academics and education stakeholders interested in the digital transformation of education at home and internationally.
Publication date: |
13 December 2023 |
>> Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 Results: Ireland - Country Note
The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning outcomes attained around the world, and allow educators and policy makers to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries. This country note provides a country-specific overview of Ireland.
Publication date: |
05 December 2023 |
>> Roadmap for scaling up local school community engagement to inform education policy making in Ireland
During the last decade, several OECD countries have been supporting citizen engagement in policy making to better respond to increasingly volatile environments and complex problems. Ireland has a strong tradition and culture of partnership models and stakeholder engagement in education policy making. However, a desire to explore new opportunities for school community engagement and how they could support existing national consultation processes contributed to the exploration of alternative forms of stakeholder engagement in education. This has prompted the Teaching Council in collaboration with a range of Government Departments and national stakeholders, to request assistance from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) for the project "Support to improve local community engagement in Irelands education policy development". Drawing from international examples, existing stakeholder engagement practices in Ireland, the contributions of a wide range of education stakeholders and a pilot exercise, this report proposes a model and roadmap for exploring the potential of school community engagement to further support policy making across the Irish education system.
Publication date: |
13 October 2023 |
>> Implementation of Ireland's Leaving Certificate 2020-2021: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID 19 pandemic, countries around the world faced the challenge of how to certify student learning at the end of schooling, when in-person examinations were no longer possible. In 2020 and 2021, Ireland developed emergency measures to replace the country's historic Senior Cycle examinations, or Leaving Certificate. The global health situation, school closures and the challenges to continue teaching and learning in this context made it a particularly difficult time for students, teachers, school leaders, families and policy makers. Ireland's emergency solutions - the Calculated Grades System in 2020 and the Accredited Grades System in 2021 - provided recognised certification of student achievement and enabled Ireland's young people to progress to the next stage of life, into further education or employment. This policy perspective reflects on the experience for stakeholders of the solutions that were adopted in 2020 and 2021.
Publication date: |
17 July 2023 |
>> Consideration of an optimal representation for the technological higher education sector in Ireland
This brief discusses an appropriate model for representing the technological higher education sector in Ireland, based on stakeholder discussions and international practices from other OECD higher education systems. It assesses the challenges of the Technological Higher Education Association and outlines functions of a representative body. This analysis identifies five options for organising higher education representation in Ireland, recommending a separate sectoral representative organisation in the short-to-medium term to support the transformation of technological universities. In the long term, it foresees a single representative body for the entire Irish higher education system.
Publication date: |
30 May 2023 |
>> A review of technological university academic career paths, contracts and organisation in Ireland
Irish authorities are reshaping the nations higher education landscape, creating a network of technological universities that merge, build on, and extend the mission of the countrys institutes of technology. Its emerging technological universities are tasked with providing research-informed teaching and learning across all levels of higher education, linking their programmes to the needs of their regions citizens, businesses and professions. This paper was commissioned by Irelands Higher Education Authority and Department for Further and Higher Education, Research and Innovation, who asked the OECD to identify a set of benchmark higher education institutions from other OECD countries that can provide insights for the development of future Irish technological universities through examination of their human resource policies, career paths and organisational structures. Drawing upon this evidence, and analysis of current policies in Irelands institutes of technology and technological universities, this analysis identifies options for new career and employment contracts and organisation structures
Publication date: |
16 September 2022 |
>> Resourcing higher education in Ireland
This policy brief is the third in a series of thematic policy briefs in the OECD's Resourcing Higher Education Project. This wider project aims to provide a shared knowledge base for OECD member and partner countries on policy for higher education resourcing, drawing on system-specific and comparative policy analysis. The policy brief for Ireland addresses a series of specific questions about the funding of higher education institutions, formulated by Ireland's Higher Education Authority (HEA). The brief first reviews the main factors that affect the cost of delivery in higher education (cost drivers) and the extent to which OECD jurisdictions monitor costs and use cost information to inform the design and implementation of their funding systems. It then provides an analysis of the ways in which OECD jurisdictions design models for allocating public funding to higher education institutions to promote social inclusion objectives, reward institutional performance and provide targeted resourcing for national priorities, such as increasing supply of high-demand skills.
Publication date: |
14 March 2022 |
>> Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland: Review on Sector Quality
In supporting children's development, countries invest in the future successes of economies and societies. Awareness of the critical role early childhood education and care (ECEC) plays in setting a strong foundation for children's learning, development and well-being has grown among policy makers worldwide. The OECD Quality beyond Regulations policy review provides countries with an overview of the different dimensions of quality in ECEC. It also highlights policies that can enhance process quality in particular. From this review, emerged the present report, taking an in-depth look at Ireland's ECEC system. It outlines the sector's main strengths and challenges, focusing on workforce development and quality assurance through monitoring and inspections. The report provides tailored policy recommendations to improve provision in line with national goals.
Publication date: |
02 December 2021 |
>> Education in Ireland: An OECD Assessment of the Senior Cycle Review
Ireland is undertaking a review of their senior cycle (upper secondary education) led by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). It aims at collecting the views of all relevant stakeholders to identify the strengths and challenges of senior cycle in its current form, and identify priority issues and actions to move forward. As part of OECDs implementing education policies project, an OECD team was invited to support the review of Irelands senior cycle. The team has carried out the assessment presented here and provided strategic advice based on four analytical aspects: smart policy design, inclusive stakeholder engagement, conducive context and a coherent implementation strategy. Each one of these dimensions matters to ensure that the review of senior cycle can move forward based on evidence and with strong support from stakeholders.
Publication date: |
01 December 2020 |
>> Education Policy Outlook Country Policy Profile: Ireland
This country policy profile on education in Ireland is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Ireland (2013), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today in terms of strengths, challenges and ongoing policy efforts, and how this compares to other systems. The profile brings together over a decade's worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as the latest OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. It also offers analysis of the Irish education system's initial responses to the COVID-19 crisis and provides insight into approaches to building greater responsiveness and resilience for the future.
Publication date: |
26 June 2020 |
>> Supporting Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Higher Education in Ireland
This report presents evidence-based analysis on Ireland's higher education transformation process towards an innovative, interconnected and multidisciplinary entrepreneurial system, designed to empower its students and staff to demonstrate enterprise, innovation and creativity in teaching, research and societal engagement. Using the OECD-European Commission HEInnovate guidance for the entrepreneurial and innovative higher education institution, the report assesses strategies and practices for entrepreneurship and innovation in Ireland's higher education institutions and the systemic support provided by government. Higher education institutions play a critical role in Ireland's economy and innovation system, which is based on a strong and growing engagement agenda with industry and local communities, the emergence of new learning environments and strong multidisciplinary research teams. This report offers practical recommendations on how Ireland can enhance and sustain the outcomes.
Publication date: |
23 October 2017 |
>> Starting Strong IV: Early Chilhood Education and Care - Data Country Note: Ireland
This Data Spotlight note on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provides a summary of ECEC policy inputs, outputs and outcomes in Ireland. It uses data available within the OECD Secretariat Education at a Glance, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD Family Database to make comparisons between Ireland's ECEC system and the systems in other OECD countries. This note complements the 2015 OECD publication, Starting Strong IV: Monitoring Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care.
Publication date: |
01 January 2017 |
>> Education Policy Outlook Country Policy Profile: Ireland
This policy profile on education in Ireland is part of the Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across OECD countries. Building on the substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge base available within the OECD, the series also includes a biennial publication. It develops a comparative outlook on education policy by providing: a) analysis of individual countries' educational context, challenges and policies (education policy profiles) and of international trends and b) comparative insight on policies and reforms on selected topics.
Publication date: |
01 June 2013 |
>> Country Background Report: Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes in Ireland
The Country Background Reports provide in-depth analysis of context, key factors and policy responses in individual countries. They provide an invaluable source of information on evaluation and assessment frameworks and greatly facilitate the analysis developed within the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes. The Review is using a comparative framework to help countries assess: (i) how to develop a coherent evaluation and assessment framework; (ii) how to strengthen the use of evaluation and assessment results to enhance school practices so student outcomes are improved; and (iii) how to facilitate the implementation of evaluation and assessment policies.
Publication date: |
01 January 2012 |
>> Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools: Ireland
This spotlight report draws upon the OECD report Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools. The first section reproduces the executive summary of the report. The second section presents a snapshot of some variables on equity in education and school failure in Ireland based on the indicators used in the comparative report. It also outlines some recent policy developments and suggested policy options for Ireland, which are also informed by the Country Background Report prepared by Ireland.
Publication date: |
01 January 2012 |
>> Country Background Report: Pathways for Disabled Students to Tertiary Education and Employment: Ireland
The present country report describes the context of the policies and provisions related to support and aid for students with disabilities or learning difficulties in Ireland. The primary focus of the report is on the current policies and provisions as well as the key factors that are influencing transition policies in the educational field for disabled students. However, the report also includes references and descriptions of related factors in the field of employment. The report is structured according to the guidelines for country reports proposed by the OECD and covers the following topics: definitions of disability; data; policy and future developments; funding; provisions; support services; informational and learning resources as well as parental involvement.
Publication date: |
01 November 2010 |
>> OECD Reviews of Migrant Education: Ireland 2010
By international standards, immigrant students in Ireland, on average, perform as well as their native peers at age 15. However, non-English speaking immigrants face particular challenges and do less well. Ireland is undertaking measures with a focus on language support and intercultural education. There is scope to improve access to quality early childhood education and care for all, especially for immigrant children; strengthen learning opportunities for language support teachers; concentrate efforts on mainstreaming language support and intercultural education into regular curriculum, teacher education and research; enhance capacities of teachers and school leaders to be more responsive to the growing linguistic and cultural diversity of students; ensure access to school, home and community liaison services for immigrant families; collect better data to further encourage schools to adopt diversity and inclusive education; and set up a framework for continuous feedback embedded in policy evaluation and school inspection.
Publication date: |
21 April 2010 |
>> Learning for Jobs: Ireland
Learning for Jobs is an OECD study of vocational education and training designed to help countries make their VET systems more responsive to labour market needs. It expands the evidence base, identify a set of policy options and develop tools to appraise VET policy initiatives. Ireland has a wide range of VET provision targeted at different client groups. The national qualifications framework is comprehensive and includes a strong commitment to the avoidance of dead-ends and pathways of progression. At the same time, the economic crisis is making intense demands on the Irish VET system, particularly on the apprenticeship system, which focuses on a narrow set of occupations. Weak literacy and numeracy are serious problems for many learners, and many of those looking after VET students, in particular those in companies, lack pedagogical training.
Publication date: |
01 February 2010 |
>> Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education in Ireland 2006
Ireland was one of the first European countries to grasp the economic importance of education. But higher education in Ireland is now at a crossroads, with significant challenges to overcome. High levels of investment are needed for a major expansion of postgraduate studies and capacity for research, development and innovation. Mechanisms should be established to achieve the right balance between different components of the tertiary education system, which includes universities, institutes of technology and colleges that provide post-secondary level instruction. Further, there is a need to meet the demands of specialisation, competition and complementarities within the system. This report addresses the full range of higher education issues, offers recommendations for action within the framework of the government's ambitions for the sector and suggests policy approaches to developing required additional sources of funding.
Publication date: |
28 November 2006 |
>> OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care: Ireland
This review covers children from birth to compulsory school age and includes the transition period into primary schooling. In order to examine thoroughly what children experience in the first years of life, the review has adopted a broad, holistic approach to study early childhood policy and provision. To that end, consideration has been given to the roles of families, communities and other environmental influences on children's early learning and development. Particular emphasis has been laid on aspects concerning quality, access and equity, with an emphasis on policy development in the following areas: regulations; staffing; programme content and implementation; family engagement and support; funding and financing.
Publication date: |
01 April 2004 |
>> Country Background Report: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers: Ireland
Ireland's Country Background Report on Recruiting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers (2003) comes against a background of twelve years of unprecedented appraisal, analysis and formulation of educational policy. All aspects of the education system have been reviewed from "the cradle to the grave", within a lifelong learning paradigm. In 1991, the government identified education as a strategic force for the social, economic and cultural development of the state. Since then, a formal review of the system was conducted by the OECD, the government issued two green papers (policy proposal documents), and three white papers (policy decision documents). The approach taken was a highly consultative one with all the stakeholders, the highlights of which were a National Convention on Education (1993), a National Consultative Forum on Adult Education (1996) and a National Forum on Early Childhood Education (1998). Outcomes of the process included curricular reforms for all stages of the school system, as well as a raft of major educational legislation including the Universities Act (1997), the Education Act (1998), the Education (Welfare) Act (2000), the National Qualifications Authority Act (2001), the Teaching Council Act (2001). This period was also one during which Ireland experienced remarkable economic growth, well ahead of the OECD average. In the view of both international and national commentators, the quality of Ireland's education system has been a key causal factor in the socio-economic change involved.
Publication date: |
01 April 2003 |