Department for the Economy publishes Survey of Further Education College Leavers report

Date published: 16 November 2022

The Department for the Economy has today published the research report, Survey of Further Education College Leavers: Academic Year 2020/21.

This report presents analysis of the eighth annual Northern Ireland Survey of Further Education (FE) College Leavers. Undertaken approximately six to nine months after course completion it provides a snapshot of the immediate added value to FE college leavers of completing and achieving a regulated qualification at Level 3 or below in the FE sector during the academic year 2020/21.

Key points:

• Half (50.0%) of FE college leavers who qualified at Level 3 or below were in employment six months after achieving their 2020/21 qualification, up from 43.4% before their course began; the proportion in learning fell slightly from 41.6% to 40.7%.
• When asked to give the most important reason for doing their course, FE college leavers were most likely to say: "I thought it would improve my career prospects" (29.3%); "I wanted to improve my ability to do my current job" (13.2%); or "I wanted greater job satisfaction" (9.7%).
• Employment rates for FE college leavers varied depending on subject area studied. The subject areas with the highest proportions of FE college leavers in full-time employment were Construction, Planning and the Built Environment (71.0%), Business, Administration and Law (67.0%) and Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (59.0%).
• The subject areas with the lowest proportions of FE college leavers in employment were Arts, Media and Publishing (9.2%), Social Sciences (11.9%) and History, Philosophy and Theology (13.3%).
• Typically, unemployment rates were lower for those qualifying at higher levels. One-eighth of those who had studied at Entry Level or Level 1 were unemployed (11.7%), in contrast to 5.0% of those who had studied at Level 2 and 2.6% of those at Level 3.

This report, along with tables (including notes and technical details), an executive summary and infographic are available to download from the Department’s website.