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There has been a 12% decline in the number of students seeking to do the Green Cert at Teagasc colleges this year.
“We are experiencing an approximate 12% reduction in Level 5 student numbers across agriculture, horticulture, equine and forestry,” head of education Anne Marie Butler has said.
Teagasc has seen a jump in numbers in the last couple of weeks, in line with the Leaving Certificate results and CAO offers so this could vary still.
In the last five years, the number of people completing Green Cert courses has fluctuated from year to year. In 2019, 2,238 courses were completed, since then, the numbers have fluctuated around the 2,000 mark, see Figure 1.
In 2021, some 1,497 students completed Green Certs – the lowest number in recent times. The current numbers for 2024 stand at 609 but this will change significantly for August as full-time Level 6 courses are not included.
Along with this, there is more competition across education in the sector. The lower CAO points required to get into Level 8 courses has resulted in students being able to go straight into a higher QQI-accredited course, resulting in fewer students completing Level 5 and Level 6.
This is also the second year of the land-based apprenticeships in horticulture, sports turf and agriculture.
Initially, Teagasc struggled with low numbers when the apprenticeships were launched in September, with 49 apprentices enrolled in 2023/24, including eight in the farm manager course.
Teagasc has seen an increase in students opting for more practical pathways with 79 approved apprentices registered for 2024/25 across the four disciplines.
The horticulture course has seen the largest increase with numbers tripling this year, it went from nine apprentices to 30 for the incoming year.
Horticulture
“There are six options within horticulture, we have seen growth across all of the streams,” Butler said.
Butler does not think the apprenticeships are competing with the Teagasc full-time courses.
“It’s probably a little bit early to tell but so far, I would say no, they are very different styles of learning and they are not for everyone as students are earning while they’re working and attending classes in the evening and coming into certain block days.
“It is a different learning model,” she says.
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