School dropout levels down, but not in cities

School dropout rates have reached their lowest recorded levels, but wide variations remain between cities and other areas.

The headline figure for students staying at school until Leaving Certificate is now at 90.6%, meaning 9.4% of those who started second-level education in 2008 did not stay the full five or six years. Of just over 56,000 students, nearly 5,300 did not finish sixth year in 2013 or 2014.

The early school-leaving figure is down from 9.9% a year ago, and from 16.4% among students who began first year in 1998. While the overall improvements are welcome, Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan said it was still a concern that almost one-in-10 students do not complete second-level.