The figures were released in a Higher Education Authority (HEA) report set to be published today.

Courses in and related to construction, computer science and engineering have the highest dropout rates of third-level courses in Irish universities and institutes of technology, according to a HEA report due to be published on Thursday. The report, titled ‘A study of progression in Irish Higher Education (2013/14 to 2014/15)’ showed that there was a 20% dropout rate in construction and related services between 2013/14 and 2014/15, with a 16% dropout rate for computer science and a 13% dropout rate for engineering (excluding civil) and social science, business and law & arts and humanities courses. While those figures were representative of third-level institutions as a whole, dropout rates for all of those courses increased in Irish institutes of technology, with a 24% dropout rate in construction and related services, a 20% dropout rate for computer science, a 21% dropout rate for engineering (excluding civil) and a 16% dropout rate for social science, business and law & arts and humanities courses. The report showed that one in six third-level students (approximately (6,200) are dropping out of courses during their first year and that non-progression rates have reduced ever so slightly to 15% in recent years. When it came to the various individual third-level institutions in Ireland, meanwhile, IT Blanchardstown (29%) Limerick I (27%) and IT Tallaght (24%) had the highest non-progression rates, while the lowest non-progression rates were found in St. Pat’s College in Drumcondra (4%), Mary Immaculate College in Limerick (4%), Mater Dei Institute of Education, Maynooth University and Trinity College Dublin (all 9%). All pics via hea.ie.  You can see the report in full here.