Education is not the same as learning. When we think of education we think of places and structures: a classroom, a building, a state exam. Unfortunately, school—the iconic home of education—is often the last place in which we learn anything. As demonstrated by Falk and Dierking in ‘The 95 Percent Solution,’ published last year in the American Science journal, as little as 5% of our learning happens inside a classroom. Learning is a concept with much broader meaning than education. It is a fundamental aspect of human life and the engine for most of our interactions.

As students around the country sit down to fill out their CAOs, the importance of further education is brought sharply into focus. The number of those from the most marginalised households attending third level, while increasing, is still minimal. In fact, there are still significantly more early school leavers than third level graduates in many disadvantaged communities. With every third young person currently out of work, the importance of attending college need not be underlined.