Ireland · Limerick
Crescent is a co-educational comprehensive day school in Dooradoyle, Limerick. Its policy describes a Catholic Jesuit identity, while the Department records an interdenominational ethos. First Year uses Limerick’s shared application system.
Crescent College Comprehensive is a co-educational comprehensive day school at Dooradoyle, Limerick, V94 W6W8. The letters S.J. identify its connection with the Society of Jesus. Use the school’s contact page for admissions enquiries.
The school’s September 2025 policy calls it a Catholic comprehensive school with joint Ministerial and Jesuit trusteeship. The Department of Education directory classifies its ethos as interdenominational. These official descriptions are not identical.
The school is co-educational and non-fee-paying. Boarding is not available. A family needing residential provision should make that a separate school-search requirement.
For admissions, distinguish First Year entry after primary school from a transfer into another secondary year. These use different procedures. Also distinguish the previous 2026/27 application calendar from the forthcoming 2027/28 intake.
Consider Crescent if you want a Jesuit secondary education in Limerick, with boys and girls taught together, and can arrange the daily journey to Dooradoyle.
Its comprehensive-school model combines academic and practical subjects. The policy describes joint trusteeship by the Minister for Education and the Jesuit Provincial.
The policy says the school is open to pupils regardless of faith. It expects participation in religious education, ceremonies, retreats and social outreach.
The same policy permits Catholic preference and refusal of a non-Catholic applicant when essential to maintaining the ethos. Religion does not appear in the published 2025 First Year priority order.
A family with another faith or none should ask how these provisions and any religious-education exemption apply in practice.
The current school pages cover the Junior Cycle, Transition Year and Leaving Certificate. The Junior Cycle is the first secondary stage; the Leaving Certificate is the final school qualification.
Transition Year follows Third Year. It is not compulsory, although the school says most pupils take it.
The Department records no subjects taught through Irish, while the school lists Irish as a curriculum subject. The profile therefore treats the school as English-medium. Ask which subjects run and how Transition Year fits the proposed course.
First Year goes through the Limerick Area Post-Primary Common Application System. The school’s Annual Admission Notice for 2026/2027 prints:
CAS portal available Wednesday 1 October 2025
Closing date Monday 12 January 2026 at 5 p.m.
Offers posted Tuesday 27 January 2026
Letters of regret Wednesday 28 January 2026
Accept or refuse by Wednesday 4 February 2026 at 12 p.m.
Common Registration Evening Tuesday 24 February 2026
These are past dates, not the calendar for 2027 entry. The school’s First Year page directs applications made after the 12 January 2026 deadline to its transfer form.
The notice gives 150 First Year places for 2026/27. Its historical table records 207 applications, 150 offers and 57 waiting-list names for the 2025/26 intake. These figures do not establish capacity or admission chances for 2027/28.
For 2027/28 First Year entry, the Limerick Education Support Centre announces that the shared portal opens on 1 October 2026 at 9am. Applications must use that portal. As of 4 September 2026, Crescent’s own admissions page still describes 2026/27. Check its new annual notice for places, closing dates and offer arrangements before applying.
The shared portal coordinates applications, but each school retains its own admission criteria. Read Crescent’s current policy and annual notice together. For a transfer into any other secondary year, contact the school directly rather than using the First Year portal.
The published 2025 policy gives First Year priority in this order:
It then allows up to five Jesuit-trustee places. The specified categories concern relatives of Jesuits, relocating pupils from Jesuit schools and exceptional circumstances serving the school’s ethos and wider community. This is not an unrestricted family nomination route.
Random selection resolves competition for remaining places. Twins and other multiple-birth siblings need separate applications; selection of one does not guarantee another unless a place remains available.
The policy excludes academic ability as an admission criterion. An aptitude test comes after an offer and helps identify possible learning-support needs. Applying earlier within the valid window does not establish priority.
Unsuccessful applicants are ranked on the waiting list using the admission criteria. The policy says that list lasts until the last day of May in the relevant school year. Afterward, a family seeking a place must reapply through the transfer process.
These are the currently linked policy’s rules. Check the replacement policy and annual notice for the intended intake rather than assuming every 2025 provision continues unchanged.
The policy requires a First Year entrant to be twelve by 1 January following entry and asks for a birth certificate. An offer must be accepted by the stated deadline with the required documents, or the place can pass to another applicant.
A transfer depends on a vacancy, suitable subjects and the school’s assessment of the reasons for moving. The school requests information about attendance, progress, subject choices, support needs and discipline from previous schools. It also considers welfare and safety and decides the appropriate year group.
Submit a complete transfer form: the policy says the school does not follow up incomplete applications. Its reference to a 2025–26 form is dated, so obtain the correct version directly.
A refusal should explain the reason, waiting-list position where applicable, and review or appeal options. The policy requires a board review before an oversubscription appeal. Ask promptly for the current procedure and deadlines rather than assuming the school’s waiting list replaces an appeal.
Section 7 of the admission policy says the school will not require fees, payments or contributions as a condition of applying, admission or continued enrolment.
This restriction concerns payments demanded as a condition of a school place. It does not by itself itemise the family’s costs for clothing, activities or other services. Ask for the current list of compulsory, optional and subsidised items.
Keep any voluntary contribution separate from a compulsory charge. Request a clear explanation if an invoice appears to make a contribution a condition of continued attendance.
The Limerick guide provides local comparisons. The Ireland guide explains the wider school system.
Official pages and documents we read. If a figure matters to your budget or your application, open the link and confirm it is still current.
Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.
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Limerick’s secondary-school choice is not simply fee-paying versus free. Teaching language, single-sex or co-educational provision, and the need for boarding produce different shortlists. First Year day applications share a local system; boarding and transfers need separate enquiries.
7 minStart 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.