Balla Secondary School
Balla, Castlebar, Co Mayo · F23 KT65 · Roll number 64500G
Balla Secondary School is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Balla. Every school in and around Balla →
What stands out about Balla Secondary School
- 476 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Growing: 476 pupils, 42% more than the 335 of 2019/20.
- A voluntary secondary school: owned by its trustees, most often a religious order or its successor trust, and paid for by the State.
- Its patron is the Archbishop of Tuam; its ethos is Catholic.
- The only post-primary school in Balla or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Balla Secondary School had 476 pupils in 2025/26, against 243 in 2015/16 (+96%). Girls are 49% of them. Its roll rose in 10 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Balla Secondary 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 Balla Secondary 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 Balla Secondary 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 Balla Secondary School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Balla Secondary 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: Balla Secondary School has grown by 42% since 2019/20. All the schools around Balla together changed by +30%.
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 6 nearest post-primary schools, 4 have more pupils than Balla Secondary School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +42%; 0 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balla Secondary School | 476 | +42% | Catholic | English | ||
| St Louis Community School | 701 | +20% | Inter-denominational | English | 10 km | |
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 542 | −9% | Catholic | English | 11 km | |
| Davitt College | 902 | +27% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 11 km |
| Mount St Michael | 404 | −4% | Catholic | English | 12 km | |
| St. Geralds College | 688 | +11% | Catholic | English | 13 km | |
| Coláiste Cholmáin | 402 | +6% | Catholic | English | 13 km |
The other 19 post-primary schools in Co. Mayo
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Muire Agus Padraig | 394 | +29% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 19 km |
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 482 | +3% | Catholic | English | 20 km | |
| Ballinrobe Community School | 865 | +28% | Inter-denominational | English | 21 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuire | 95 | −41% | Catholic | All in Irish | 21 km | |
| Ballyhaunis Community School | 717 | +12% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 24 km |
| Rice College | 615 | +34% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| Sacred Heart School | 530 | −3% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| St Joseph's Community College | 223 | +44% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 28 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 541 | −6% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| Moyne College | 221 | +21% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 34 km |
| St. Tiernan's College | 253 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 34 km |
| St Muredachs College | 403 | +14% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| St. Mary's Secondary School | 551 | +16% | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| Sancta Maria College | 571 | +19% | Catholic | English | 44 km | |
| St. Patrick's College | 181 | +1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 48 km |
| Coláiste Pobail Acla | 232 | −1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 53 km |
| Colaiste Chomain | 29 | −40% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 69 km |
| St. Brendan's College | 357 | −7% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 71 km |
| Our Lady's Secondary School | 265 | +37% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 71 km |
Living in Balla
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F23 Eircode area
Housing in Balla →The median sale price rose from €210,000 in 2023 to €280,000 in 2025 (+33%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F23 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Mayo
Cost of living in Balla →New tenancies in Co. Mayo averaged €1,117 a month in 2025, against €1,002 in 2024 (+12%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Balla, F23 KT65
Post-primary schools near Balla Secondary School
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Balla Secondary School
Is Balla Secondary 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 Balla Secondary School have?
476 pupils in 2025/26. That is +42% since 2019/20.
Does Balla Secondary School teach through Irish?
No: Balla Secondary School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Balla Secondary School?
Balla Secondary School has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Archbishop of Tuam.
How do pupils get a place at Balla Secondary 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 Balla Secondary School?
The nearest are St Louis Community School (10 km), St Joseph's Secondary School (11 km) and Davitt College (11 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 Balla; 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).