Irish Education System

Ireland has a centralised education system which is administered by the Department of Education but with significant localisation in terms of school ownership, trusteeship and management.  The universities are autonomous.  The Irish education system comprises provision for early childhood, primary, post-primary, further education and training and higher education.  Early childhood education and care services are delivered outside the formal education system, by a diverse range of private, community and voluntary interests and are described variously as crèches, nurseries, pre-schools, naíonraí (Irish language pre-schools), playgroups and daycare services.  Government investment in such provision is primarily implemented by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA).

The Department of Education makes provision for education through the medium of the state’s two official languages; English and Irish.  Participation in formal education is compulsory for children in Ireland from the ages of six to sixteen or until students have completed three years of second-level education, typically, the completion of Junior Cycle/Lower Secondary.  While the Department of Education is responsible for the overall direction of education, responsibility for the development of national curricula and assessments has been devolved to aegis bodies including the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the State Examinations Commission.

The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for the teaching profession, which promotes and regulates professional standards in teaching.  Initial teacher education programmes for primary and post-primary teachers are facilitated through a range of concurrent (undergraduate) and consecutive (postgraduate) programmes.  All initial teacher education programmes (primary, post-primary and further education) in Ireland that lead to registration must have professional accreditation from the Teaching Council.

Primary Education
Primary education in Ireland consists of an eight year cycle; junior infants, senior infants and first to sixth class. Grades 2/3 in Ireland are considered to be 2nd and 3rd class.  The end of primary education in Ireland is considered to be the end of 6th class or the end of the eight year primary cycle.

Post Primary Education
Post primary education in Ireland consists of a three year junior cycle (lower secondary), an optional transition year, and a two year senior cycle (upper secondary).

Further and Higher Education
Provision of education programmes in further and higher education institutions including universities is the remit of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.  The Higher Education Authority has a statutory responsibility, at central Government level, for the effective governance and regulation of higher education institutions and the higher education system. 

Educational Disadvantage Programme
DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) is the Government’s main policy initiative aimed at tackling educational disadvantage of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school through second-level education (3 to 18 years).  In the programme in the 2019/20 school year, 890 schools were included; 692 primary schools (334 urban and 358 rural) and 198 post primary schools. Details on DEIS supports for schools is available here - Supports for DEIS schools 2020/21
 
DEIS Plan 2017 contains over 100 actions aimed at increasing literacy and numeracy rates, retention rates, improving transitions to higher education, enhancing teacher education, and parental engagement.  The current level of funding provided to the DEIS programme (circa €125m) highlights the Irish Government’s commitment to ensuring education becomes a proven pathway to better opportunities for all learners, especially those at risk of educational disadvantage.
 
The Educational Research Centre (ERC) produces reports and research to assist in monitoring and evaluating DEIS programme.  Its monitoring and evaluation work over the past 15 years or so (since DEIS was first established in 2005) has included both primary and secondary analysis of various data sources, including national surveys and assessments; analyses of State Examinations Data and retention rates; and broad analyses of the achievement and other data available from international assessment studies (PIRLS, PISA and TIMSS).  Current work is guided by the DES' 2017 DEIS Action Plan.  A summary of the work of the ERC on DEIS is available at ERC-DEIS.