Enrolments in primary schools down 1.2% but up 1% in secondary schools
Seán McCárthaigh
The number of children enrolling in mainstream primary schools last September fell by 1.2 per cent with 6,759 fewer students than the previous year, according to figures published by the Department of Education.
In contrast, however, the trend was upwards in numbers attending secondary schools with enrolments at post-primary level up 1.0 per cent with an increase of 4,243 students.
Total enrolments in mainstream classes in primary schools in the 2025/26 school year stands at 535,620 – the lowest annual number of students in the past decade.
The decrease was more pronounced among girls with 3,422 fewer enrolled this year compared to 3,337 boys with males now accounting for 51.1 per cent of all students.
Children fleeing Russian invasion
A downward trend where enrolments have been falling since 2018 was halted temporarily starting in 2022 due to the influx of children fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, the numbers have started to fall again and are expected to continue to decrease for the next 15 years, according to the Department of Education.
A total of 10,166 students from Ukraine are currently enrolled in mainstream primary schools – a decrease of 152 on the previous year.
All counties with the exception of Louth and Tipperary recorded a decrease in enrolments last September with the most pronounced fall-off in numbers experienced in Carlow where the number of primary school students dropped by 2.8 per cent followed by Kerry (-2.2 per cent) and Offaly (-1.9 per cent).
The highest absolute falls were in Dublin with 2,095 fewer students and Cork with 1,022 fewer enrolments.
Drop in Catholic school enrolment
The total number of enrolments in Catholic schools fell by 6,786 last year to 472,651, while numbers attending multi-denominational schools bucked the overall trend to record a slight increase in enrolments – up 302 to 45,344 – accounting for 8.5 per cent of all students at primary level.
The latest figures show 88.2 per cent of primary schoolchildren still attend a Catholic school – although it is down from 88.4 per cent last year.
The number of mainstream primary schools with a Catholic ethos decreased by 17 to 2,705 to reach its lowest level this century.
In contrast, the number of multi-denominational schools has reached a new peak with 172 – up two on the 2024/25 school year.
The number of Church of Ireland schools and schools of other faiths have remained static respectively at 168 and 22.
Figures for post-primary level show the overall number of enrolments reached 429,654 last September with boys accounting for 50.6 per cent of the total.
The numbers included a total of 7,173 students from Ukraine.
Multi-denominational schools account for most enrolments at post-primary level with 209,341 representing 48.7 per cent of all students.
Multi-denominational schools
Numbers attending multi-denominational schools rose by 1.2 per cent in the current school year with enrolments up by 2,556.
The number of students attending Catholic schools was also up by 0.8 per cent to 204,678 pupils – accounting for 47.6 per cent of all students in secondary schools.
There are also 12,521 studying at Church of Ireland schools – an annual increase of 0.9 per cent.
The number of secondary schools in the Republic has dropped to its lowest level since 2018 with the current total at 721 following the closure of one school last year.
Only four counties – Clare, Longford, Louth and Westmeath – recorded a slight decline in the number of students enrolled in secondary schools in the current year against the background of rising enrolments nationwide.
The biggest increase was recorded in Roscommon where enrolments at post-primary level were up 3.9 per cent followed by Leitrim (3.6 per cent), Laois (2.4 per cent) and Meath, Monaghan and Sligo (all 1.9 per cent).
