St Columba's Comprehensive School
Glenties, Co Donegal · F94 C421 · Roll number 81010J
St Columba's Comprehensive School is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Glenties. Every school in and around Glenties →
What stands out about St Columba's Comprehensive School
- 400 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+4%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- In DEIS. DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) gives schools serving disadvantaged areas more teachers, money and support; the Department decides which schools are in it.
- A comprehensive school: founded by the State with a church partner, which shares its board.
- Its patron is Minister for Education; its ethos is inter-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Glenties or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26St Columba's Comprehensive School had 400 pupils in 2025/26, against 386 in 2015/16 (+4%). Girls are 50% of them. Its roll rose in 5 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for St Columba's Comprehensive School
Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing schools by them, so this school has no letter and nothing here ranks it. Its facts are the Department of Education’s; its inspection reports are linked below.
What the Department of Education does publish for St Columba's Comprehensive School is on this page: its pupils each September since 2015/16, girls and boys, its patron and ethos, whether it teaches through Irish, whether it is in DEIS, and its inspection reports.
Newspapers print lists of how many of a school’s leavers go on to college. Those count destinations, not exam results, and depend on who a school takes in; we don’t use them.
Inspection reports on St Columba's Comprehensive School
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate visits schools and publishes its reports. The reports describe what inspectors saw; they give no overall grade, and we don’t make one. Reports for this school on gov.ie ↗
Inspectors visit every kind of school. Whole-school evaluations look at teaching and learning, leadership and management; subject inspections look at one subject; follow-through inspections check whether earlier advice was taken. Each report is published on gov.ie with the school’s response.
Getting a place at St Columba's Comprehensive School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St Columba's Comprehensive School directly, usually in the year before their child finishes sixth class; the school’s yearly admission notice gives the dates for applying and for its decisions.
A school with more applicants than places admits on the criteria in its admission policy, often brothers and sisters, the area it serves and, for post-primary schools, its feeder primaries. A family refused a place can appeal.
It is in DEIS, so it has extra support for pupils from disadvantaged areas.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: St Columba's Comprehensive School is about the size it was in 2019/20 (+4%). All the schools around Glenties together changed by +11%.
Pupils since 2019/20
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; Department of Education enrolments 2019/20 and 2025/26 (preliminary).
Side by side with the nearest post-primary schools
2025/26The nearest schools of the same kind, as the crow flies: their pupils, ethos and language. No results: none are published.
Of the 5 nearest post-primary schools, 2 have more pupils than St Columba's Comprehensive School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +4%; 2 of the 5 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Columba's Comprehensive School | 400 | +4% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | |
| Gairm Scoil Chú Uladh | 87 | −49% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 17 km |
| Rosses Community School | 509 | +26% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 17 km |
| Abbey Vocational School | 999 | +10% | Multi-denominational | English | 20 km | |
| St. Catherine's Vocational School | 359 | −2% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 20 km |
| Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada | 61 | −26% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 25 km |
The other 21 post-primary schools in Co. Donegal
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste na Carraige | 210 | −2% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 27 km |
| Finn Valley College | 424 | +61% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 33 km |
| St Columbas College | 983 | +17% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair | 414 | −8% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 33 km |
| Coláiste Cholmcille | 682 | +7% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 34 km |
| Magh Ene College | 333 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | 36 km | |
| St Eunan's College | 1,003 | +15% | Catholic | English | 39 km | |
| Loreto Secondary School | 938 | +2% | Catholic | English | 39 km | |
| Errigal College | 662 | +153% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 40 km |
| Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola | 455 | +2% | Inter-denominational | Some subjects in Irish | ✓ | 40 km |
| Coláiste Ailigh | 324 | +23% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | 40 km | |
| Deele College | 840 | +39% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 44 km |
| The Royal and Prior School | 609 | +13% | Church of Ireland | English | ✓ | 45 km |
| Loreto Community School | 810 | +3% | Inter-denominational | English | 49 km | |
| Mulroy College | 617 | +17% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 49 km |
| Coláiste Phobail Cholmcille | 11 | – | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 52 km |
| Scoil Mhuire Secondary School | 885 | +19% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 64 km |
| Crana College | 585 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 65 km |
| Coláiste Eoghain | 13 | −59% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 66 km | |
| Carndonagh Community School | 1,118 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 82 km |
| Moville Community College | 648 | +25% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 90 km |
Living in Glenties
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F94 Eircode area
Housing in Glenties →The median sale price rose from €185,000 in 2023 to €195,000 in 2025 (+5%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F94 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Donegal
Cost of living in Glenties →New tenancies in Co. Donegal averaged €977 a month in 2025, against €893 in 2024 (+9%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Glenties, F94 C421
Post-primary schools near St Columba's Comprehensive School
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about St Columba's Comprehensive School
Is St Columba's Comprehensive School a good school?
We don’t grade it: Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them. Its inspection reports on gov.ie, a visit and a talk with the principal will tell you more than any table could.
How many pupils does St Columba's Comprehensive School have?
400 pupils in 2025/26. That is +4% since 2019/20.
Does St Columba's Comprehensive School teach through Irish?
No: St Columba's Comprehensive School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St Columba's Comprehensive School?
St Columba's Comprehensive School has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Minister for Education.
How do pupils get a place at St Columba's Comprehensive School?
Apply to the school directly. It publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice with its dates; if more children apply than it has places, it admits on the criteria in its policy.
Which schools of the same kind are near St Columba's Comprehensive School?
The nearest are Gairm Scoil Chú Uladh (17 km), Rosses Community School (17 km) and Abbey Vocational School (20 km).
Sources: Department of Education, school lists 2025/26 (preliminary) and enrolments since 2015/16, CC BY 4.0 · inspection reports on gov.ie, linked by roll number. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Facts from the Department of Education’s school lists. Listed with Glenties; nothing here rates the school.
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).