Photo: Charlie Doolally · CC BY-SA 2.0In and around Grange Upper, 29 schools: 17 primary schools, 10 secondary schools and 2 special schools
In or within 3 km of Grange Upper, they have 11,835 pupils in all. Around Grange Upper, single-sex schools make up 50% of the post-primaries, below Co. Waterford’s towns (56%) but above Irish towns (39%). Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never graded or ranked.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Grange Upper’s schools
A wide choice at twelve
10 post-primary schools lie within 10 km, so families here have a real choice at twelve; each admits on its own policy. The nearest: Newtown School (0.8 km), De La Salle College (1.1 km) and Waterpark College (1.3 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 29 schools in and around Grange Upper are
Each school where the official list places it, shaded by who runs it and sized by pupils; squares are secondary schools, triangles special schools. The dashed shape is Grange Upper’s outline; schools within 3 km of it count.
Places from the Department of Education’s school lists (its own coordinates for all but a handful); map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Teaching through Irish in and around Grange Upper
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
2 of Grange Upper’s 29 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Phort Lairge and Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge.
Who Grange Upper’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Waterford’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Grange Upper | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 44% | 30% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 3% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 53% | 35% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
DEIS schools teach 44% of the pupils around Grange Upper, a larger share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Waterford: 30%). The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 53% here, 29% there. Of the DEIS schools here, St Paul's Community College is the biggest: 792 pupils.
Each of the 29 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newtown SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 415 | 50% | ||
| Newtown Junior SchoolPrimary | 112 | 44% | ||
| Scoil Lorcain BNSPrimary | 345 | 0% | ✓ | |
| St Martins Special SchSpecial | 100 | 31% | ||
| Scoil Naomh Eoin le DiaPrimary | 237 | 100% | ||
| De La Salle CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,023 | 0% | ||
| Christ Church N.S.Primary | 114 | 56% | ||
| Waterpark CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 621 | 43% | ||
| Waterpark N.S.Primary | 235 | 48% | ||
| S.N. DeaglanPrimary | 396 | 0% | ||
| S.N. Ursula NaofaPrimary | 620 | 100% | ✓ | |
| St Angela's Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 937 | 100% | ||
| St Josephs Special SchSpecial | 96 | 32% | ||
| C.B.S. Mount Sion, WaterfordPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 494 | 0% | ✓ | |
| Abbey Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 1,004 | 48% | ||
| Mount Sion CBS N.S.Primary | 360 | 0% | ✓ | |
| St Stephens N.S.Primary | 363 | 0% | ✓ | |
| Our Lady of Good Counsel GNSPrimary | 187 | 100% | ||
| S.N. Muire an Port MorPrimary | 212 | 0% | ||
| Presentation Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 458 | 100% | ✓ | |
| Gaelscoil Phort LairgePrimary | 207 | 44% | ✓ | |
| Presentation Primary SchoolPrimary | 446 | 98% | ✓ | |
| Our Lady of Mercy Senior P.s.Primary | 292 | 100% | ✓ | |
| An Teaghlaigh Naofa Girls Junior National SchoolPrimary | 234 | 100% | ✓ | |
| S.N. Naomh MhuirePrimary | 641 | 43% | ||
| Our Lady of Mercy Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 479 | 100% | ✓ | |
| St Pauls B N.S.Primary | 269 | 13% | ✓ | |
| Gaelcholáiste Phort LáirgePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 146 | 49% | ✓ | |
| St Paul's Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 792 | 38% | ✓ |
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary): enrolments by sex and the DEIS list. Shares are of pupils, not of schools; a county’s are the schools listed with its towns.
Who runs Grange Upper’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
24 of Grange Upper’s 29 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Waterford & Lismore (15), Friends Patron Company clg (2) and Le Chéile Schools Trust (2). 12 of the 29 are in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas (30% across Ireland).
Department of Education school lists: ethos 2025/26, patron 2024/25 (the 2025/26 lists don’t give it). DEIS list 2025/26.
The 10 patrons of Grange Upper’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
The schools around Grange Upper answer to 10 patrons, and Bishop of Waterford & Lismore leads with 15 of the 29 schools and 41% of their pupils. Education and Training Boards run 2 of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Waterford & LismoreS.N. Naomh Mhuire, S.N. Ursula Naofa, Presentation Primary School, S.N. Deaglan, St Stephens, Mount Sion CBS, Scoil Lorcain BNS, Our Lady of Mercy Senior P.s., St Pauls B, Scoil Naomh Eoin le Dia, Waterpark, An Teaghlaigh Naofa Girls Junior, Gaelscoil Phort Lairge, St Martins Special Sch, St Josephs Special Sch | Catholic | 15 | 4,841 |
| Le Chéile Schools TrustDe La Salle College, St Angela's | Catholic | 2 | 1,960 |
| Edmund Rice Schools TrustWaterpark College, C.B.S. Mount Sion, Waterford | Catholic | 2 | 1,115 |
| CEISTOur Lady of Mercy, Presentation | Catholic | 2 | 937 |
| Friends Patron Company clgNewtown School, Newtown Junior School | Quaker | 2 | 527 |
| Bishop of OssoryS.N. Muire an Port Mor, Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS | Catholic | 2 | 399 |
| Kilkenny & Carlow ETBAbbey | Inter-denominational | 1 | 1,004 |
| To be decided ETBSt Paul's | Inter-denominational | 1 | 792 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelcholáiste Phort Láirge | Catholic | 1 | 146 |
| Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory COIChrist Church | Church of Ireland | 1 | 114 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Grange Upper
Starting primary school
Children can start primary school once they are four, and must be in school by six. Families apply to each school directly. Every school publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice; a school with more applicants than places admits on the criteria in its policy. Since the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, a Catholic or other majority-faith primary school can’t put baptised children first; a school of a minority faith still can, to keep its ethos.
Moving to secondary school
Children move to post-primary school at about twelve, after sixth class. Again, families apply to each school, usually a year or more ahead, and an oversubscribed school admits on its published criteria, often brothers and sisters and its feeder primary schools.
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; each school’s admission policy and notice are on its own website.
Which schools are growing
Of these 27 schools, 9 have grown by at least 5% since 2019/20 and 10 have lost as much; Ireland’s pupils changed by +5%.
All 27 schools
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September, 2019/20 and 2025/26 (preliminary). No capacity is published, so how full a school is can’t be shown.
The 29 schools in and around Grange Upper
Here are the schools in Grange Upper or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Ireland doesn’t publish results for individual schools, so none of these carries a letter.
Inspection reports for Grange Upper’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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.
The reports describe what inspectors saw and what each school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the 29 schools below each link their own.
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Grange Upper
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Families in Grange Upper have 10 post-primary schools within 10 km: 8 voluntary secondary schools and 2 ETB schools. Of these, 5 are single-sex: 3 for girls and 2 for boys. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newtown SchoolVoluntary secondary · Quaker | Girls and boys | Boarding | 415 | 0.8 km |
| De La Salle CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 1,023 | 1.1 km |
| Waterpark CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 621 | 1.3 km |
| St Angela's Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 937 | 1.4 km |
| C.B.S. Mount Sion, WaterfordVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | DEIS | 494 | 2 km |
| Abbey Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,004 | 2.1 km |
| Presentation Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | DEIS | 458 | 2.4 km |
| Our Lady of Mercy Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | DEIS | 479 | 2.7 km |
| St Paul's Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 792 | 3.1 km |
| Gaelcholáiste Phort LáirgeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 146 | 3.1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Grange Upper
2 special schools serve the area: St Martins Special Sch and St Josephs Special Sch, 196 pupils between them. 6 of the 17 primary schools have special classes for children who need more support. Their cards ↑
Special schools and primary schools with special classes as the Department lists them; the National Council for Special Education places pupils in special classes.
Grange Upper beside the 83 other Irish towns of 1,800 to 3,400 people
Towns of a similar size, with the schools in or within 3 km of each; ordered by population, never ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annacotty | 3,398 | 8 | 4,443 | 1 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Athboy | 2,596 | 4 | 1,372 | 2 | 0% | 0.8 km |
| Kenmare | 2,566 | 3 | 1,066 | 0 | 0% | 0.4 km |
| Kylemore | 2,557 | 57 | 16,207 | 2 | 60% | 0.5 km |
| Castleisland | 2,536 | 7 | 1,283 | 1 | 29% | 0.3 km |
| Grange Upper | 2,510 | 29 | 11,835 | 2 | 41% | 0.8 km |
| Castleconnell | 2,488 | 2 | 536 | 0 | 0% | 5.9 km |
| Prosperous | 2,413 | 2 | 1,169 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Ballaghaderreen | 2,387 | 2 | 968 | 0 | 100% | 0.3 km |
| Castlerea | 2,348 | 5 | 959 | 0 | 80% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Derrinturn | 1,837 | 3 | 426 | 0 | 100% | 8.3 km |
Among the 83 other towns, 9 have more pupils at their schools than Grange Upper does. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 32 of the 84.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Grange Upper
Each September’s pupils at every school in or within 3 km of the town, counted where the school stands today.
The schools in and around Grange Upper had 11,147 pupils in 2015/16 and 11,835 in 2025/26. C.B.S. Mount Sion, Waterford grew most: +54% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Grange Upper
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year, 2015/16 to 2025/26 (preliminary), for every school placed in the area today; schools that have since closed or merged count where they stood.
Schools in the towns around Grange Upper
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grange Upper | 29 | 11,835 | 2 | 41% | 0.8 km |
| Grange 0.7 km | 32 | 12,776 | 3 | 41% | 1.3 km |
| Grantstown and Ballinakill 1.5 km | 31 | 11,459 | 2 | 36% | 2.1 km |
| Ballytruckle 1.7 km | 32 | 12,776 | 3 | 41% | 1 km |
| Poleberry 1.9 km | 29 | 11,782 | 1 | 45% | 0.4 km |
| Waterford City Centre 1.9 km | 33 | 12,411 | 2 | 39% | 0.5 km |
| Ferrybank 2.5 km | 32 | 12,081 | 2 | 38% | 0.6 km |
Grange has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 3. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Grange Upper changed by +3%; among its neighbours, Poleberry’s grew most (+4%) and Grantstown and Ballinakill’s least (+1%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Grange Upper or within 3 km of its outline, as the Department places it: families here use them. Schools further out are on the map of each school’s own page.
- The kinds of school. Primary schools take children from junior infants to sixth class, about ages 4 to 12. Post-primary schools teach the Junior and Leaving Certificate, about ages 12 to 18: voluntary secondary schools (mostly with a religious patron), ETB schools and community colleges run by an Education and Training Board, and community and comprehensive schools. Special schools teach children with particular needs.
- Teaching through Irish. All-Irish: every subject taught through Irish, in the Gaeltacht or, outside it, a Gaelscoil or Gaelcholáiste. Partly in Irish: an Irish stream (some classes entirely through Irish) or some subjects through Irish. Every other school teaches Irish as a subject.
- 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.
- Ethos and patron. Most Irish schools are owned by a patron, mostly a church; the patron sets the school’s ethos. Multi-denominational schools (Educate Together, many ETB schools) teach children of every faith and none together.
- No grade. Section 53 of the Education Act 1998 lets the Minister refuse to release information that would allow schools’ exam results to be compared, and no results are published school by school. So Ireland’s schools have no letters and its towns no School Grade; nothing on this page ranks them.
- What isn’t here. What the UK and French pages show from results, these can’t: results charts, results against pupils’ backgrounds and towns ranked by their schools (no published results), and how full each school is (no capacity is published). Every post-primary school teaches to the Leaving Certificate, so there is no sixth-form split to show.
- Inspections. The Inspectorate’s reports are linked from each school’s page. They give no overall grade, so none is shown.
- The year. The 2025/26 lists are the Department’s preliminary release; numbers can change a little in the final lists.
Questions about schools in Grange Upper
How many schools are there in Grange Upper?
In Grange Upper or within 3 km of it: 17 primary schools, 10 secondary schools and 2 special schools, with 11,835 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Grange Upper that teach through Irish?
Yes, 2: Gaelscoil Phort Lairge and Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Grange Upper?
No: all 10 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Grange Upper?
We don’t say. Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them; a ranking would rest on guesses. Each school’s page has its own facts and a link to its inspection reports, and visiting the schools you are weighing is still the best guide.
How do I get a place at a school in Grange Upper?
Apply to each school directly: every school publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice with its dates. If it has more applicants than places, it admits on the criteria in its policy.
Sources: Department of Education, school lists 2025/26 (preliminary) and enrolments since 2015/16, CC BY 4.0 · one school placed with OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
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).