According to a new Graduate Outcomes Survey 2023 from the HEA (Higher Education Authority). The new research found that Technological Universities (TU) have higher employment rates than universities, as more of their graduates go directly into employment rather than pursue further study. The figures are contained in the new Higher Education Authority (HEA) study, which tracked thousands of students from the class of 2023 to see if they were in employment or further study, nine months after graduating.

Technological universities recorded high employment rates of 82–87% among honours degree graduates, while traditional universities had employment rates of 64–85%. This reflects a greater proportion of traditional university graduates pursuing further study after graduating.

HEA CEO Dr Alan Wall said, “We are delighted to release the Graduate Outcomes Survey Class of 2023 report, which shows that employment rates for our graduates are still at a very high level. This report adds to the graduate tracking evidence base and provides up-to-date data for all our stakeholders on early career outcomes for recent graduates.”

70% of graduates earned up to €40,000, although 30% earned in excess of this amount. The overwhelming majority (92%) of those employed were working in Ireland. Dublin was the most common area of employment (41%), followed by Cork and Galway. Overall, the class of 2023 produced almost 71,000 graduates; 55% were female and 45% were male.

TUS undergraduates outperforming the national average

A recent survey from the HEA found that as many as 96.4% of TUS engineering, manufacturing, and construction graduates are in employment, outperforming the national average by almost 11%. TUS undergraduates are also more likely to take up employment in the regions served by its six campuses. More than 60% of these graduates are currently in employment in the Mid West and Midlands regions, with a further 5.9% and 5.1% of these TUS undergraduates employed in the neighbouring counties of Galway and Cork.