Tarbert Comprehensive School
Tarbert, Listowel, Co Kerry · V31 WD66 · Roll number 81006S
Tarbert Comprehensive School is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Tarbert. Every school in and around Tarbert →
What stands out about Tarbert Comprehensive School
- 546 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+9%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- 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 Tarbert or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Tarbert Comprehensive School had 546 pupils in 2025/26, down from 588 in 2015/16 (−7%). Girls are 49% 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 Tarbert 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 Tarbert 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 Tarbert 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 Tarbert Comprehensive School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Tarbert 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.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Tarbert Comprehensive School has grown by 9% since 2019/20. All the schools around Tarbert together changed by +6%.
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.
Tarbert Comprehensive School has more pupils than any of the 6 nearest post-primary schools. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +9%; 4 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarbert Comprehensive School | 546 | +9% | Inter-denominational | English | ||
| Kilrush Community School | 343 | −20% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 10 km |
| Coláiste na Ríochta | 178 | +109% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 15 km |
| St. Michael's College | 347 | +37% | Catholic | English | 15 km | |
| Presentation Secondary School | 341 | +8% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| St Michael's Community College | 283 | +16% | Multi-denominational | English | 17 km | |
| St. Joseph's Secondary School | 349 | +9% | Catholic | English | 21 km |
The other 21 post-primary schools in Co. Kerry
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Causeway Comprehensive School | 646 | +35% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| Meanscoil Phadraig Naofa | 179 | −9% | Catholic | English | 38 km | |
| Meanscoil Naomh Ioseph | 211 | −14% | Catholic | English | 39 km | |
| Castleisland Community College | 452 | +80% | Multi-denominational | English | 39 km | |
| Coláiste Gleann Lí Post Primary School | 279 | +29% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 39 km |
| Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk | 1,322 | +5% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí | 312 | −11% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 40 km | |
| Presentation Secondary School | 517 | −9% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| C.B.S. Secondary School | 801 | +26% | Catholic | English | 41 km | |
| Presentation Secondary School | 712 | +16% | Catholic | English | 53 km | |
| Meanscoil Nua an Leith Triuigh | 160 | +1% | Catholic | English | 56 km | |
| Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra | 367 | −6% | Inter-denominational | English | 56 km | |
| Killarney Community College | 469 | +26% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 58 km |
| St. Brendan's College | 871 | +14% | Catholic | English | 58 km | |
| St. Brigid's Secondary School | 789 | +25% | Catholic | English | 58 km | |
| The Intermediate School | 711 | +48% | Catholic | English | 59 km | |
| Community College Killorglin | 285 | −7% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 59 km |
| Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne | 441 | +13% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | 77 km | |
| Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine | 646 | +31% | Inter-denominational | English | 78 km | |
| Coláiste Íde | 123 | +23% | Catholic | All in Irish | 80 km | |
| Coláiste na Sceilge | 543 | +6% | Inter-denominational | Irish stream | 92 km |
Living in Tarbert
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the V31 Eircode area
Housing in Tarbert →The median sale price rose from €204,000 in 2023 to €250,000 in 2025 (+23%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the V31 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Kerry
Cost of living in Tarbert →New tenancies in Co. Kerry averaged €1,182 a month in 2025, against €1,085 in 2024 (+9%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Tarbert, V31 WD66
Post-primary schools near Tarbert 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 Tarbert Comprehensive School
Is Tarbert 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 Tarbert Comprehensive School have?
546 pupils in 2025/26. That is +9% since 2019/20.
Does Tarbert Comprehensive School teach through Irish?
No: Tarbert Comprehensive School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Tarbert Comprehensive School?
Tarbert Comprehensive School has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Minister for Education.
How do pupils get a place at Tarbert 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 Tarbert Comprehensive School?
The nearest are Kilrush Community School (10 km), Coláiste na Ríochta (15 km) and St. Michael's College (15 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 Tarbert; 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).