A SIOS Perspective | January 2026
Across Ireland, students are doing what they have always been told to do: attend lectures, submit assignments, pass exams, and graduate with the expectation that a degree will unlock opportunity. Yet, for a growing number of students, graduation marks not the beginning of stability, but the start of uncertainty. At the centre of this issue is a persistent and systemic problem: the lack of meaningful real-world experience embedded within Irish higher education.
From Students Ireland OS (SIOS)’s perspective, this is no longer a marginal concern or an abstract policy debate. It is a lived reality shaping student wellbeing, employability, financial security, and confidence in the education system itself.
1. The Illusion of Preparedness
Irish higher education continues to excel academically. Degrees remain internationally respected, institutions perform well in research rankings, and lecture content is often rigorous and intellectually demanding. However, academic excellence alone is no longer sufficient in a labour market that prioritises adaptability, applied skills, and experience.
Students routinely report feeling “qualified but unprepared.” They graduate with strong theoretical knowledge yet lack exposure to:
- Workplace expectations and professional culture
- Practical problem-solving in live environments
- Communication with clients, teams, and supervisors
- Managing workloads outside structured academic timetables
This disconnect fosters a dangerous illusion of preparedness. Students assume that a degree equates to readiness, only to encounter repeated rejections due to “insufficient experience” for even entry-level roles.
According to reporting by The Irish Times, more than four in ten students believe college does not adequately prepare them for employment. This statistic reflects a structural failure, not individual shortcomings.
2. The Skills Gap Employers Won’t Ignore
Employers across sectors consistently emphasise the same deficiencies:
- Practical application of knowledge
- Team collaboration in real settings
- Digital and administrative competence
- Commercial awareness and initiative
Ironically, these are not advanced or niche skills. They are foundational workplace competencies that should be developed during education, not discovered by trial and error after graduation.
Many students encounter a paradox:
“You need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience.”
Without structured placements, paid internships, or industry-linked projects, students from non-privileged backgrounds are especially disadvantaged. Informal networks and unpaid opportunities remain inaccessible luxuries for many.
3. Financial Pressure Intensifies the Experience Gap
The lack of real-world experience does not exist in isolation. It is deeply intertwined with Ireland’s cost-of-living and housing crises.
Students are increasingly forced to prioritise survival over skill-building:
- Taking multiple part-time jobs unrelated to their field
- Commuting long distances due to unaffordable accommodation
- Reducing study time to cover rent and basic expenses
For many, unpaid internships or low-paid placements are simply not viable. While work experience is often framed as a solution, it becomes inaccessible when students must choose between career development and paying rent.
Support mechanisms such as SUSI provide essential assistance, but they do not address the structural absence of paid, integrated experiential learning within degree programmes.
4. Transition Shock: From Structured Learning to Unstructured Reality
A recurring theme in student feedback is “transition shock.” College provides:
- Clear deadlines
- Defined success metrics
- Academic feedback loops
- Predictable schedules
The working world offers none of this clarity. Students suddenly face:
- Ambiguous job expectations
- Performance evaluation without guidance
- Financial independence without preparation
- Long-term planning without support
Institutions often celebrate “employability” in brochures, yet practical preparation for adult responsibilities—contracts, taxes, budgeting, workplace rights—is minimal or optional at best.
This gap leaves graduates feeling overwhelmed and unsupported during one of the most critical transitions of their lives.
5. Mental Health: The Invisible Consequence
The psychological impact of feeling unprepared cannot be overstated. Financial stress, employment uncertainty, and perceived failure contribute to rising anxiety among students and graduates.
Reports from organisations such as National Youth Council of Ireland consistently highlight how young people feel disproportionately affected by housing instability, insecure work, and policy decisions made without youth input.
When students internalise systemic failures as personal inadequacy, the result is:
- Declining confidence
- Burnout before careers even begin
- Reluctance to take professional risks
- Long-term disengagement from civic and economic life
6. The Pandemic Effect: A Lost Layer of Experience
Students who studied during or immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic face an additional disadvantage. Remote learning, cancelled placements, and reduced campus engagement eliminated informal learning opportunities that previous cohorts took for granted.
For many, university became transactional:
- Log in
- Submit work
- Log out
The loss of in-person collaboration, networking, and extracurricular involvement widened the experiential gap. While academic content continued, the social and professional dimensions of education were severely weakened.
7. Unequal Impact on Marginalised Students
The absence of structured real-world learning disproportionately affects:
- Students with disabilities
- International students unfamiliar with Irish work culture
- First-generation college students
- Students from low-income households
Organisations such as AHEAD have repeatedly highlighted accessibility gaps in placements, internships, and professional preparation. When experiential learning is optional rather than embedded, those who most need institutional support are left to navigate complex systems alone.
8. Why This Is a Systemic Failure
From a SIOS perspective, it is insufficient to advise students to “be more proactive” or “seek opportunities independently.” The responsibility cannot rest solely on individuals operating within constrained financial and social conditions.
This is a systemic issue rooted in:
- Outdated curriculum design
- Weak industry-education partnerships
- Overreliance on unpaid or informal experience
- Lack of accountability for graduate outcomes
Education systems must evolve alongside labour markets, not lag behind them.
9. What Needs to Change
SIOS advocates for a shift from optional employability to embedded preparedness. This includes:
1. Paid, Credit-Bearing Work Placements
Every degree should integrate structured, paid placements aligned with the field of study.
2. Practical Assessment Reform
Assessment should value applied problem-solving, teamwork, and real-world outputs—not solely essays and exams.
3. Career Preparation as Core Curriculum
Career literacy, financial skills, and workplace rights should be mandatory, not extracurricular.
4. Stronger Employer Accountability
Industry must engage meaningfully with education, offering accessible, paid opportunities rather than extractive internships.
5. Student Voice in Policy Design
Students must be active participants in shaping employability strategies, not passive recipients of decisions made about them.
10. Reframing the Purpose of Higher Education
Higher education should not be reduced to job training—but neither can it ignore employment realities. The purpose of college must be rebalanced to prepare students for:
- Meaningful work
- Financial independence
- Social participation
- Lifelong adaptability
A degree should be a bridge to society, not a cliff edge.
Conclusion: From Credentials to Capability
Ireland’s students are capable, motivated, and resilient. What they lack is not ambition, but a system that translates education into lived capability.
The lack of real-world experience is not a minor flaw—it is a fault line running through the student experience. If left unaddressed, it risks eroding trust in higher education and deepening inequality across generations.
Students Ireland OS calls for urgent, coordinated reform. Preparing students for the real world is not an optional enhancement—it is a core responsibility.
The question is no longer whether change is needed, but whether institutions are willing to act before another generation graduates into uncertainty.