Ursuline Secondary School
Thurles, Co. Tipperary · E41 E726 · Roll number 65470F
Ursuline Secondary School is one of 4 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Thurles. Every school in and around Thurles →
What stands out about Ursuline Secondary School
- One of the larger post-primary schools: 895 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+10%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A girls’ school.
- Takes day pupils and boarders.
- The largest of the 4 post-primary schools around Thurles.
- 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 Le Chéile Schools Trust; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Ursuline Secondary School had 895 pupils in 2025/26, against 762 in 2015/16 (+17%). Its roll rose in 9 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Ursuline 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 Ursuline 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 Ursuline 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 Ursuline Secondary School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Ursuline 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.
It takes girls only. It takes boarders as well as day pupils.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Ursuline Secondary School has grown by 10% since 2019/20. All the schools around Thurles 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.
Ursuline Secondary School has more pupils than any of the 6 nearest post-primary schools. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +10%; 3 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ursuline Secondary School | 895 | +10% | Catholic | English | ||
| Presentation Secondary School | 559 | −10% | Catholic | English | 0.3 km | |
| C.B.S. Thurles | 571 | −1% | Catholic | English | 0.4 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed | 601 | +72% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 1.2 km |
| St Josephs College | 373 | +36% | Catholic | English | 13 km | |
| Our Ladys Secondary School | 646 | +15% | Catholic | English | 13 km | |
| Scoil Ruain | 360 | +1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 15 km |
The other 23 post-primary schools in Co. Tipperary
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashel Community School | 885 | +4% | Inter-denominational | English | 19 km | |
| Presentation Secondary School | 365 | +31% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 19 km |
| Patrician Presentation | 289 | +88% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 25 km |
| Rockwell College | 455 | −8% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| Colaiste Phobáil Ros Cré | 594 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 31 km |
| Cistercian College | 255 | +16% | Catholic | English | 32 km | |
| St. Ailbe's School | 704 | +101% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 32 km |
| St. Anne's Secondary School | 267 | −19% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| The Abbey School | 354 | −11% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| St. Joseph's CBS Nenagh | 715 | +33% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| St Mary's Secondary School | 577 | +28% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| Nenagh College | 345 | −26% | Multi-denominational | Some subjects in Irish | 34 km | |
| Colaiste Dun Iascaigh | 889 | +23% | Inter-denominational | English | 34 km | |
| Ardscoil na mBráithre | 706 | +1% | Catholic | English | 37 km | |
| Central Technical Institute, Clonmel | 366 | +43% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 37 km |
| Presentation Secondary School | 448 | +1% | Catholic | English | 37 km | |
| Loreto Secondary School | 465 | −5% | Catholic | English | 37 km | |
| Newport College | 407 | +72% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 40 km |
| St. Mary's Secondary School | 719 | +27% | Catholic | English | 41 km | |
| Borrisokane Community College | 723 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | 41 km | |
| Scoil Mhuire | 470 | +8% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 46 km |
| Edmund Rice Secondary School | 305 | +4% | Catholic | English | 46 km | |
| Comeragh College | 613 | +38% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 46 km |
Living in Thurles
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the E41 Eircode area
Housing in Thurles →The median sale price rose from €203,500 in 2023 to €250,000 in 2025 (+23%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the E41 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Thurles
Cost of living in Thurles →New tenancies in Thurles averaged €1,047 a month in 2025, against €978 in 2024 (+7%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Thurles, E41 E726
Post-primary schools near Ursuline 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 Ursuline Secondary School
Is Ursuline 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 Ursuline Secondary School have?
895 pupils in 2025/26. That is +10% since 2019/20.
Does Ursuline Secondary School teach through Irish?
No: Ursuline Secondary School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Ursuline Secondary School?
Ursuline Secondary School has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Le Chéile Schools Trust.
How do pupils get a place at Ursuline 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 Ursuline Secondary School?
The nearest are Presentation Secondary School (0.3 km), C.B.S. Thurles (0.4 km) and Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed (1.2 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 Thurles; 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).