Minister Naughton makes final call to parents ‘Don’t miss your chance to have your say’
- Published on: 5 December 2025
- Last updated on: 5 December 2025
Over 34% of eligible households have their say to date on primary school survey, with 168,000 responses so far
Minister for Education and Youth is urging all parents of primary school and pre-school children and school communities to have their say on the future of their primary school before the survey closes on 16 December 2025.
Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton TD, has today encouraged parents and guardians with children in primary school, and those with younger children, to take part in the online survey of primary school communities.
The survey – the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland – is school specific and aims to assess parental demand and preferences for different types of primary school provision including patronage/ethos, co-education or single-sex school provision and language of instruction (English or Irish).
The survey was launched on 4 November and will close on Tuesday 16 December.
Parents and guardians of children who are either in, or soon to start, primary school, including staff and Boards of Management, are being invited to have their say in the final days of the survey.
Minister Naughton said:
“Parents and guardians are the real experts when it comes to their children, and it is only right that their voices are placed at the core of how we provide education in Ireland.
“I would like to see a strong response rate for every primary school to ensure that we have heard the views of as many households and communities as possible.
“I and my department want to know what parents and school communities want for their school, and, as the closing date for this survey looms, I am encouraging parents, guardians and wider school communities to engage to ensure that their views form part of our future.”
Continuing, Minister Naughton said:
“By assessing parental demand in every community, we can identify what the need is and work with schools to support them through that process. This survey is just the beginning of our engagement. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will follow.
“Where schools wish to explore options, my department will provide direct support, including the appointment of a facilitator to work with boards, staff and parents.
“Further engagement with stakeholders will assist in strengthening approaches already in place, ensuring clarity and consistency for schools and parents, ensuring that every child’s right to an inclusive and respectful education experience is upheld.”
All responses to the survey will remain confidential and anonymous.
The Department of Education and Youth has robust arrangements in place to ensure the integrity and security of the primary school survey process. Arrangements for validating survey returns operate after survey returns are received as this facilitates ease of use for survey users.
Information regarding co-education, patronage / ethos and education through Irish can be accessed here: www.gov.ie/primaryschoolsurvey.
The online survey is available here: www.gov.ie/primaryschoolsurvey.
The department will use the survey results to input into its analysis of national, local and school-specific data to help the department in respect of planning at primary school level. The department will work with relevant stakeholders on actioning the outcomes from the surveys in the context of future school planning. This survey is not a final step. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will begin.
County breakdown of response rates to date
The figures in the table below relate to the Primary School Survey of parents and guardians. The figures are initial overall response rates and have yet to be fully validated.
| County | Eligible households | Response Rate to date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CARLOW | 6,593 | 33.90% | |
| CAVAN | 10,320 | 33.10% | |
| CLARE | 9,186 | 32.00% | |
| CORK | 54,904 | 32.80% | |
| DONEGAL | 15,155 | 33.40% | |
| DUBLIN | 132,717 | 34.40% | |
| GALWAY | 21,261 | 40.50% | |
| KERRY | 12,906 | 33.30% | |
| KILDARE | 29,709 | 36.10% | |
| KILKENNY | 7,353 | 35.40% | |
| LAOIS | 8,785 | 30.60% | |
| LEITRIM | 2,566 | 40.00% | |
| LIMERICK | 21,846 | 33.70% | |
| LONGFORD | 4,627 | 35.40% | |
| LOUTH | 18,960 | 32.10% | |
| MAYO | 12,708 | 37.50% | |
| MEATH | 16,767 | 33.00% | |
| MONAGHAN | 6,242 | 34.50% | |
| OFFALY | 7,408 | 32.70% | |
| ROSCOMMON | 8,609 | 38.30% | |
| SLIGO | 6,505 | 35.60% | |
| TIPPERARY | 14,620 | 33.30% | |
| WATERFORD | 14,717 | 35.30% | |
| WESTMEATH | 10,875 | 36.20% | |
| WEXFORD | 16,256 | 36.10% | |
| WICKLOW | 13,987 | 35.80% |
Aggregation to county level is approximate. Responses are initially aggregated to Eircode routing-key regions, defined by the first three characters of the Eircode. Each routing-key region is then assigned to the county containing the largest share of its land area, in order to derive indicative county-level figures. Following the close of the survey, full Eircodes will be geocoded using licensed reference data, allowing responses to be allocated more precisely to geographical areas for final analysis.
The figures are initial overall response rates and have yet to be fully validated. The arrangements for validating survey returns operate after survey returns are received as this facilitates ease of use for survey users. The Eircode parents and guardians provide to the primary schools their children attend is a key aspect. Submitted Eircodes are checked against the department’s Primary Online Database (POD) in respect of primary school children and Child Benefit data in respect of younger children to ensure that the responses are from households with primary school children or younger children. The department’s validation process also involves checks for duplicate responses.
Notes for editors
School Survey www.gov.ie/primaryschoolsurvey – live
Overview of Primary School Survey
What is the Primary School Survey?
The Primary School Survey asks parents, guardians, school staff and boards of management members their preference about the primary schools in which they work, or in which their children currently attend, or will attend in coming years. The Department of Education and Youth will use the results of the survey to plan how we provide education at primary level, and to ensure that schools meet the needs of their local communities.
Why is the Department of Education and Youth undertaking this survey?
School communities are reflective of the rich and diverse society we live in. In the context of the evolving environment within which schools are operating, the availability of up-to-date data and in particular, clear data on the preferences of parents and guardians in respect of the primary schools which their children currently attend, or will attend in coming years, is very important. The results of the survey will help the department in planning education provision at primary level.
What does the survey ask?
The short, online, school-specific, survey asks a small number of questions, including the following:
- Would you prefer your primary school to be a co-educational school or a single-sex school?
- Would you prefer your primary school to operate under a denominational (religious) patron or to operate under a multi-denominational (non-religious) patron?
- Would you prefer your primary school to provide education primarily through the English language or through the Irish language?
When will the survey close?
The survey is open from 4 November to 16 December 2025.
Who should complete the survey?
The survey is for:
- Parents and guardians of children who have not yet started primary school
- Parents and guardians of children currently attending primary school
- Primary school staff
- Primary school Board of Management members
How do I complete the survey?
The survey can be completed online and is available from www.gov.ie/primaryschoolsurvey. For any parents and guardians who for personal reasons are unable to complete an online survey, the department can be contacted at schoolsurvey@education.gov.ie for assistance.
What security is in place on the survey?
The department has robust and multi-layered arrangements in place to ensure the integrity and security of the primary school survey process. These arrangements for validating survey returns operate after survey returns are received as this facilitates ease of use for survey users.
This validation process can deal with any scenarios of multiple returns and it operates in the background after survey returns are received and is being done on a real-time basis.
The Eircode parents and guardians provide to the primary schools their children attend is a key aspect for those undertaking the survey. Submitted Eircodes are checked against the department’s Primary Online Database (POD) in respect of primary school children and Child Benefit data in respect of younger children to ensure that the responses are from households with primary school children or younger children. The department’s validation process also involves checks for duplicate responses. Measures are taken to ensure only one submission is counted. In cases where a pattern of multiple submission is detected, the Eircodes are flagged and appropriate actions can be taken to deal with same. If multiple occurrences of suspect activity occur, additional security measures can be deployed to eliminate the ability of automated responses.
The survey process has been peer reviewed by the Central Statistics Office who are the State’s experts in undertaking survey processes.
When will the survey results be available?
Initial high-level summary results will be published in early 2026.
What will happen with the survey results?
The department will use the survey results to input into its analysis of national, local and school-specific data to help the department in respect of planning at primary school level. The department will work with relevant stakeholders on actioning the outcomes from the surveys in the context of future school planning. This survey is not a final step. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will begin.
Information on key terms included in the survey
The survey asks a small number of questions, including on the following areas:
- co-education or single-sex school
- patronage/ethos
- language (education through English or through Irish)
We explain each of these areas below.
1.Co-educational/single-sex schools
About 90% of primary schools in Ireland provide education to boys and girls across all classes. We call this co-education. The remaining 10% or so are single-sex primary schools and provide education to boys only or girls only in some or all classes.
| School Type | Approx. percentage of primary schools |
|---|---|
| Co-educational primary schools (boys and girls educated in the same school) | 90% |
| Single-sex primary schools | 10% |
2.Patronage/ethos
All recognised primary schools (irrespective of patron):
- follow the national curriculum
- follow the Department of Education and Youth rules and regulations
- have a school patron.
The school patron appoints a Board of Management to manage the school on their behalf. Under the Education Act, 1998 the patron also decides on the ethos of the school.
| Ethos of Primary Schools | |
|---|---|
| Denominational – Catholic | 88.3% |
| Denominational - Other religions, mainly Church of Ireland | 6.2% |
| Multi-denominational | 5.5% |
Children in multi-denominational schools learn about all faiths and belief systems as part of the school day. They use multi-denominational programmes, like:
- Education and Training Board Community National School’s Goodness Me! Goodness You!
- Educate Together’s Learn Together
- An Foras Pátrúnachta’s Croí na Scoile.
3.Language (education through English or through Irish)
92% of primary schools provide education through English. The remaining 8% provide education through Irish.
| Language of Instruction | Percentage of primary schools |
|---|---|
| Education through English | 92% |
| Education through Irish | 8% |