Dublin · School search
Dublin’s options include Irish Leaving Certificate, IB and French routes, with day and boarding schools. A religious ethos and a familiar school name do not replace admissions checks.
Begin with the qualification and whether the child needs boarding.
St Andrew’s College in Booterstown is a co-educational day school. It offers the Irish Junior Cycle, Transition Year and a later choice between Leaving Certificate and International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. Its boarding department closed in 1995. The annual admission policy matters, including religious-priority provisions when applications exceed places.
St Columba’s College in Whitechurch offers day and boarding places, the Irish curriculum and Leaving Certificate, not IB. Saturday school and Sunday chapel form part of its routine. Ask about the separate day and boarding availability.
Belvedere and Gonzaga are boys’ Jesuit day schools. Blackrock is a boys’ day-and-boarding school; First Year is at Willow Park Senior School, with the College starting in Second Year.
Wesley in Ballinteer and The King’s Hospital in Palmerstown provide co-educational day and boarding routes. Alexandra College in Milltown is a girls’ day-and-boarding school. Compare ethos, admission priorities and the exact residential package, not just the fee.
If full boarding matters more than a Dublin address, add Clongowes Wood College in Clane, County Kildare. It is a boys’ Jesuit school with seven-day boarding, not a Dublin day-school alternative. Check its leave arrangements against how often you want your child home.
For French continuity, LFI Samuel Beckett has Foxrock and Clonskeagh sites and leads to the French baccalaureate. St Kilian’s, sharing the Clonskeagh Eurocampus, combines Irish schooling with German study and leads to the Leaving Certificate. A German school name does not imply the German Abitur.
Use each school’s annual admission notice for the intended entry year. A 2026–27 notice with past dates does not advertise a 2027 vacancy. In the reviewed sources, St Andrew’s fee sheet was still 2025–26; other schools had 2026–27 tables. Request a dated offer and separate registration, deposits, tuition, boarding and extras.
Test the actual campus from your likely home. Also include non-fee-paying Irish schools. If Irish-medium education is wanted, investigate a Gaelscoil; ordinary Dublin schooling should not be presented as predominantly Irish-speaking.
The Dublin hub, Ireland guide and profiles retain the official details.
Friendly orientation, not formal admissions advice. Always confirm dates with the school.
Alexandra College is a fee-paying girls' day and boarding school in Milltown, Dublin. Day places run from Preschool to Sixth Year; five-day and seven-day boarding begins in J5. The Senior School follows Junior Cycle, compulsory Transition Year and the Leaving Certificate.
DublinBelvedere College SJ is a Catholic Jesuit day school for boys in central Dublin. It follows Ireland's Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate route, with a compulsory Transition Year. For 2027 entry, it has published 168 First Year places and a defined October application window.
DublinBlackrock College is a fee-paying Catholic Spiritan school for boys in Dublin. First Year is at Willow Park Senior School; Blackrock College teaches Second to Sixth Year and offers day and boarding places.
DublinGonzaga College SJ is a Catholic Jesuit day school for boys in Ranelagh, Dublin. It follows Ireland's Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate route, with a compulsory Transition Year. The school has published 96 First Year places and an October application window for 2027 entry.
Start with the qualification your child would actually receive. Then check its subjects, language demands, and recognition in the countries where they may study next.
7 minStart with your child and the family's likely plans. Define the non-negotiables, verify the school's claims, compare three realistic options and visit with specific questions.
7 minTuition is only one line of the budget. Separate charges from advance payments, record what each figure includes, and ask the school to confirm your calculation in writing.
7 minA useful visit should help you picture your child’s school day and resolve the questions that matter to your family. Ask for concrete examples, then separate what you observed from what you were told.