Schools in Dublin: enrolment queues, patronage and the Irish exemption

In Dublin you don't just turn up at the local school with a utility bill. You apply in a window, you get ranked, and you might be told no.

The short version

• Irish public schools publish an annual admission notice with a fixed application window of at least three weeks. Miss it and you go to the back of the queue [4].
• When a school is oversubscribed it ranks children by its published criteria, and up to 25% of places can go to siblings or children of past pupils [4].
• Most primary schools can no longer put baptised children first. Post-primary schools and minority-faith primary schools still can [5].
• Kids who spent at least three consecutive years in school in Australia can usually get an exemption from Irish if they're 12 or older or have finished primary school [2].
• The Leaving Certificate is accepted by Australian universities, which convert it to an ATAR equivalent using their own tables [7].

How Irish schools differ from home

The biggest shock for Australian parents is that there's no simple catchment guarantee. In Australia, a state school has to take you if you live in its zone. In Ireland, schools are mostly owned and run by a "patron", usually a church, and the state pays the teachers. Each school writes its own admission policy within the rules of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 [4].

Schools can't charge you to apply or as a condition of getting in, though fee-charging secondary schools are an exception [4]. Voluntary contributions are common, and you'll still pay for books, uniforms and trips.

The patron types you'll meet

• Catholic schools. The large majority of Dublin primary schools. Religious instruction is part of the day, but children can opt out, and the school's admission policy must explain how [4].
• Church of Ireland and other minority-faith schools. These can still give priority to children of their own faith when they're full [5].
• Educate Together. Multi-denominational, often with long waiting lists in the suburbs.
• Community National Schools. Run by Education and Training Boards (ETBs), also multi-denominational.
• Gaelscoileanna. All-Irish schools. No exemption from Irish applies here, because Irish is the teaching language [2].

Applying: timing is everything

Admissions in Dublin are a game of calendars. The law requires each school to publish an admission notice before it takes applications, with an opening date and a closing date at least three weeks later [4]. Inside that window, the date you apply doesn't matter. Outside it, you're usually on a waiting list.

If a school has more applicants than places, it must run its published selection criteria and keep a ranked waiting list for that school year. Places that open up during the year go to the next child on the list [4]. Typical criteria include siblings already at the school, distance or a defined parish area, and for some schools, a parent or grandparent who went there. That family-connection criterion is capped at 25% of places [4].

Parents can ask the school to review a refusal, then appeal to the Department of Education under section 29 of the Education Act 1998 [6]. Appeals don't create extra places, so treat them as a last resort.

A step list for families moving from Australia

1. Pick your area with schools in mind. Many Dublin schools prioritise local children, so the lease you sign affects the school you get. In older suburbs on both sides of the Liffey, the local Catholic school may be the only one walking distance away.
2. Read the admission policies before you sign a lease. Every school publishes its policy and annual notice on its website. Look for the criteria order and the application window.
3. Email schools from Australia. You can usually apply before you arrive. Explain your moving date and ask whether there are places in your child's class this year.
4. Apply to several schools. You're allowed to. Accepting one offer can mean declining others, so read the conditions.
5. Ask about the Irish exemption early. If your child qualifies, raise it at enrolment rather than in week six (see below).
6. Keep the paperwork. School reports from Australia, birth certificates and proof of address all help.

The baptism question

Until 2018, a Catholic primary school that was full could give priority to baptised Catholic children. That's no longer allowed for the large majority of primary schools. They can't use religion as an admission criterion, and they can't ask for a baptismal certificate as a condition of entry [5].

There are two exceptions you should know about [5]:

• Minority-faith primary schools (a religion with no more than 10% of the population) can still prioritise children of the same or a similar faith.
• Post-primary schools were not covered by the 2018 changes. A religious secondary school can still prefer children on religious grounds.

A school with a religious ethos can also refuse a child of a different faith only where that is "essential to maintain the ethos of the school", and it has to prove it. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission says this power is rarely used [5].

The Irish exemption for kids from Australia

Irish is a core subject from Junior Infants to the Leaving Cert. Exemptions are allowed only in exceptional circumstances, and the school principal decides based on the Department's circulars [1].

Moving from abroad isn't enough on its own at primary level; the rules are looser for older children and secondary students [3]. For pupils educated abroad, the primary circular sets out the test. Your child must have been educated outside Ireland for at least three consecutive years with no chance to learn Irish, and also either be at least 12 on the day they enrol, or be enrolling after finishing a full course of primary education recognised by another country [2]. If you enrol in the last two months of the school year, the enrolment counts as the first day of the next school year, which can change whether your child meets the age test [2].

In practice, that means:

An exemption granted in primary can carry right through secondary school, and a pupil can choose not to use it for a while without losing it [2]. To apply, a parent writes to the principal with the reason. If the school refuses, you can appeal to the Irish Exemptions Appeal Committee within 30 calendar days [1].

Before you lock in an exemption for a teenager, think about university. The National University of Ireland colleges, including UCD, normally expect Irish for entry but recognise a valid exemption. Check the current NUI matriculation rules before your child drops the subject.

International schools and the Leaving Cert vs ATAR

International options

We couldn't find a school in Dublin that teaches the Australian curriculum. Fee-charging options include schools offering the International Baccalaureate, such as St Andrew's College in Booterstown, and language-based schools for French and German families. Fees vary widely and change each year, so get them in writing from the school.

Getting into university back home

If your teenager sits the Leaving Certificate and wants to study in Australia, the good news is that it's recognised. The University of Western Australia, for example, needs at least five subjects passed at Higher Level, adds up the best five using points from H1 (100) to H7 (37), and converts that aggregate to an ATAR equivalent. An aggregate of 330 to 339 maps to an ATAR of 76; 450 to 459 maps to 99 [7]. Subject prerequisites such as English or Higher Level Maths are matched to Australian equivalents [7].

Each university and state admissions centre uses its own method, so check the one your child is aiming for. Moving back in the middle of senior secondary is harder than moving at a clean break. If you can, plan the return for the start of Year 11 or after the Leaving Cert.

Your Australian checklist

• Records. Bring school reports and any learning-support plans. Irish schools use them to place your child and to assess exemptions.
• Citizenship. Kids born in Ireland to Australian parents can be registered as Australian citizens by descent, which matters if you plan to move home.
• Embassy help. The Australian Embassy is at 47–49 St Stephen's Green and handles passports and notarial services by appointment [8].
• Ask people who've done it. Join Cooee Ireland, our Facebook group for Australians in Ireland. Parents swap notes on which schools had places mid-year and how the Irish exemption went.

Sources

1. Exemption from the study of Irish – gov.ie
2. Circular 0054/2022: Exemptions from the study of Irish, primary – Department of Education (via INTO)
3. Are Ukrainian pupils entitled to exemptions from learning Irish? – The Irish Times
4. Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, section 9 – Irish Statute Book
5. Equal Status Acts: education and religion – Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
6. Parliamentary question on school enrolment, 17 October 2023 – Houses of the Oireachtas
7. Irish Leaving Certificate entry requirements – University of Western Australia
8. Ireland travel advice – Smartraveller

Keep reading

• Childcare in Dublin: crèche costs, free preschool and the NCS
• Renting in Dublin as an Australian
• Moving to Dublin from Australia: the complete guide
• Schooling Australian kids abroad and coming home