Irish Education System

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About Ireland

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. Ireland is separated from the Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second largest island of the British Isles, the third largest in the Europe, and the twentieth largest on the Earth. Its cities are Dublin, Galway, Mullingar, etc.

Ireland is divided into the Republic of Ireland (officially, Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. In 2016, the population of Ireland was 6,572,728. Under 4.8 million live in the Republic of Ireland and over 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

Education System of Ireland

Education is mandatory for all children in Ireland from 6 to 16 years of age or until students have completed three years of second-level education.

Pre-School

Most of pre-schools in Ireland are in the private sector. Increasingly children of working parents, childcare are provided by the provider in the schools.

Primary School

Primary education usually begins at the age of four or five. Based on parental wishes, children usually participate in a Junior Infant class at the age of four or five.

• Junior Infants (age 4-5/5-6)

• Senior Infants (age 5-6/6-7)

• First Class (age 6-7/7-8)

• Second Class (age 7-8/8-9)

• Third Class (age 8-9/9-10)

• Fourth Class (age 9-10/10-11)

• Fifth Class (age 10-11/11-12)

• Sixth Class (age 11-12/12-13)

Primary school usually start between 8:30 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. It usually finishes between 1.10 p.m. and 2 p.m. for Junior & Senior infants, while older children spend more hour in school and finish between 2:10 p.m. and 3 p.m.

As 2010 the data of primary schools in Ireland:

Type of school - Number (total: 3165)

1. Roman Catholic - 2,884 91.1%

2. Church of Ireland (Anglican) - 180 5.7%

3. Multi-denominational - 73 2.3%

4. Presbyterian - 14 0.4%

5. Inter-Denominational - 8 0.3%

6. Muslim - 2 <0.1%

7. Methodist - 1 <0.1%

8. Jewish - 1 <0.1%

9. Quaker - 4 0.1%

10. Other/Unknown - 1 <0.1%

Secondary School

• Junior Cycle

The Junior Cycle is a three-year programme, culminating in the Junior Certificate examination. The Junior Certificate examination is sat in all subjects (usually 10 or 11) in early June, directly after the end of Third Year.

First Year (age 12–14)Second Year (age 13–15)Third Year (age 14–16)

• Transition Year

Transition Year sometimes called Fourth Year (age 15–17) – depending on school, this may be compulsory, optional or unavailable.

• Senior Cycle

The Senior Cycle is a two-year programme to prepare students for the Leaving Certificate examinations. The Leaving Certificate examinations take place directly after the end of Sixth Year, with the first exam being held on the Wednesday following the June public holiday (the first Monday in June).

Fifth Year (age 16–18 or age 15–17 if Transition Year is skipped)

Sixth Year (age 17–19 or age 16–18 if Transition Year is skipped)

To prepare students for the State examination in both the Senior (Leaving Certificate) and Junior (Junior Certificate) cycles, many schools hold Mock Examinations (also known as Pre-Certificate Examinations) around February each year. These "mocks" are not state examinations: independent companies provide the exam papers and marking schemes – and are therefore not mandatory across all schools.

The Third-level Education

In the third-level of education consists of some sectors. University sector, technology sector and education college substantially funded by the state. Besides that, there are some independent private colleges.