94% of Trinity’s 2017 graduates in work or further study

A minority of graduates were unemployed nine months after graduation

In a new report published by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), it was revealed that 94% of Trinity alumni who graduated in in 2017 were in employment or further education within a year after graduation. 69% of graduates from this year are now in full-time employment with a further 3% in part-time employment. 22% of the year-group were pursuing further study at the time of the survey.

The report is based on a survey carried out by the HEA nine months after students graduated, with 29,000 responses from higher education institutions across the country. 63% of Trinity graduates asked to complete the survey sent a response.

6% of Trinity’s 2017 graduates were in neither employment or further study nine months after graduation. 3% were unemployed and looking for work, 1% said they were due to start work in the next three months and 2% said they were engaged in “other activities”, such as travel.

A lower proportion of Trinity graduates from this year are in employment compared to the national figures by 6%. Nationally, 78% of graduates from 2017 found employment and 14% continued studies. However, Trinity graduates were 8% more likely to have gone into further study.

University of Limerick (UL) had the lowest unemployment figures after graduation, with only 4% of graduates from 2017 reporting themselves to be unemployed.

The latest QS Graduate Employability rankings rated Trinity as second in Ireland for graduate employability and #101-110 worldwide. However, its 2019 position remained significantly lower than 2017, when College ranked #71-80 globally for graduate employability. QS measure their rankings using five key metrics: employer reputation, alumni outcomes, partnerships with employers, employer-student connections and graduate employment rate.

The QS rankings placed University College Dublin (UCD) as the best university in Ireland for graduate employability, with Trinity taking second place. The recent HEA study found that 57% of UCD’s 2017 graduates were employed full time, while just 4% said they were unemployed and looking for work.

Finn Purdy

Finn Purdy is the current Deputy Editor of Trinity News. He is a Junior Sophister English Studies student, and a former News Editor and Assistant News Editor.