The Rise of Apprenticeships on Ireland AM: Endless career options for students outside of the points race
Apprenticeships are a gamechanger for students and career seekers of all ages, who are building exciting and diverse careers outside of the CAO points race across 77+ Generation Apprenticeship career programmes. Compared to just 7,000 apprentices in Ireland a decade ago, there are now 30,000 people building careers with apprenticeship in diverse industries like Construction, Finance, Engineering, Farming, ICT, Hairdressing, Logistics and much more. Director of the National Apprenticeship Office Dr Mary-Liz Trant and apprentices Samir o-shur-fee and Meghan Russell discuss the benefits of choosing the apprenticeship route in this Virgin Media interview: The rise of apprenticeships in Ireland: How to become one, what you can earn & what skills you learn
High Satisfaction with Apprenticeships reported in National Survey of Apprentices 2024-2025
Preliminary results from the National Survey of Apprentices 2024-2025 were officially launched by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless TD and Minister of State Marian Harkin TD in May. The survey, conducted late last year by the National Apprenticeship Office, received responses from over 5,500 apprentices and provides compelling insights into growing diversity, satisfaction, and the positive impact of apprenticeships in Ireland.
Key findings show:
- High satisfaction with Apprenticeship: 80% of current apprentices surveyed would recommend the apprenticeship route to family or friends.
- Strong Employment Outcomes: Apprenticeships provide strong employment outcomes for apprentices, with 94% of apprentices surveyed reporting that their apprenticeship gives them good employment opportunities.
- Growing age profile: Over 1 in 10 apprentices in Ireland are over 31 years of age and almost 40% aged 23 or older showing there is growing participation across all age ranges. Read more about the results in this RTE.ie article
The official launch of preliminary survey results includes an infographic summarising the survey’s results, available at www.apprenticeship.ie. A full report will follow later this year, including a deeper analysis of over 2,000 anonymised apprentice comments.
National Apprenticeship Office launches its call for nominations for the National ‘Apprentice of the Year Awards 2025’
The National Apprenticeship Office is delighted to announce that nominations can now be submitted for the 2025 Apprentice of the Year awards held in December 2025, with nominations for the 2025 set to close at midnight on Monday 16 June 2025.
Now in its fourth year, the 2025 awards will showcase thewonderful 30,000 strong community of apprentices who, every day, walk the walk of leadership, teamwork, creativity & problem-solving in their work and learning. Nominations can be made by filling in the official Apprentice of the Year nomination form available on the Apprenticeship Ireland website here.