Rice College
Westport, Co Mayo · F28 TK64 · Roll number 64700O
Rice College is one of 2 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Westport. Every school in and around Westport →
What stands out about Rice College
- 615 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Growing: 615 pupils, 34% more than the 460 of 2019/20.
- 67 girls and 548 boys: more of one than the other.
- 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 Edmund Rice Schools Trust; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Rice College had 615 pupils in 2025/26, against 528 in 2015/16 (+16%). Girls are 11% 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 Rice College
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 Rice College 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 Rice College
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 Rice College
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Rice College 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: Rice College has grown by 34% since 2019/20. All the schools around Westport 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.
Of the 6 nearest post-primary schools, 2 have more pupils than Rice College. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +34%; 0 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice College | 615 | +34% | Catholic | English | ||
| Sacred Heart School | 530 | −3% | Catholic | English | 0.3 km | |
| St. Geralds College | 688 | +11% | Catholic | English | 15 km | |
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 542 | −9% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| Davitt College | 902 | +27% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 16 km |
| Coláiste Mhuire | 95 | −41% | Catholic | All in Irish | 18 km | |
| Sancta Maria College | 571 | +19% | Catholic | English | 20 km |
The other 19 post-primary schools in Co. Mayo
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balla Secondary School | 476 | +42% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| Ballinrobe Community School | 865 | +28% | Inter-denominational | English | 28 km | |
| Coláiste Pobail Acla | 232 | −1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 482 | +3% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| St Louis Community School | 701 | +20% | Inter-denominational | English | 34 km | |
| Mount St Michael | 404 | −4% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| St. Tiernan's College | 253 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 35 km |
| Coláiste Cholmáin | 402 | +6% | Catholic | English | 36 km | |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 541 | −6% | Catholic | English | 36 km | |
| Scoil Muire Agus Padraig | 394 | +29% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 40 km |
| St. Mary's Secondary School | 551 | +16% | Catholic | English | 42 km | |
| Moyne College | 221 | +21% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 42 km |
| St Muredachs College | 403 | +14% | Catholic | English | 42 km | |
| Ballyhaunis Community School | 717 | +12% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 48 km |
| St. Patrick's College | 181 | +1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 50 km |
| St Joseph's Community College | 223 | +44% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 50 km |
| St. Brendan's College | 357 | −7% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 55 km |
| Our Lady's Secondary School | 265 | +37% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 55 km |
| Colaiste Chomain | 29 | −40% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 57 km |
Living in Westport
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F28 Eircode area
Housing in Westport →The median sale price rose from €295,000 in 2023 to €312,500 in 2025 (+6%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F28 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Westport
Cost of living in Westport →New tenancies in Westport averaged €1,307 a month in 2025, against €1,166 in 2024 (+12%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Westport, F28 TK64
Post-primary schools near Rice College
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Rice College
Is Rice College 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 Rice College have?
615 pupils in 2025/26. That is +34% since 2019/20.
Does Rice College teach through Irish?
No: Rice College teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Rice College?
Rice College has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Edmund Rice Schools Trust.
How do pupils get a place at Rice College?
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 Rice College?
The nearest are Sacred Heart School (0.3 km), St. Geralds College (15 km) and St Joseph's Secondary School (16 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 Westport; 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).