Photo: Malone0 · CC BY-SA 4.0Pupil numbers around Arklow have fallen behind Co. Wicklow’s towns and Irish towns: −7% since 2019/20
For Arklow, that is below both Co. Wicklow’s towns (+12%) and Irish towns (+4%). 3,343 pupils go to the 5 primary schools and 4 secondary schools in or within 3 km of Arklow. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Every school in the town or within 3 km of its outline, from the Department of Education’s lists for 2025/26; Ireland’s figures are every school in the lists.
What stands out about Arklow’s schools
More all-Irish schools than most places
Families here have more choice of a school that teaches every subject through Irish than in most of Ireland, where 8% of schools do. They are Gaelcholáiste na Mara (279) and Gaelscoil an Inbhir Mhoir (242). Language ↓
One school growing fast
The fastest-growing school here is Glenart College: 416 pupils in 2019/20, 633 now. Getting a place ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Arklow
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
2 of Arklow’s 9 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelcholáiste na Mara and Gaelscoil an Inbhir Mhoir.
Where the 9 schools in and around Arklow 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 Arklow’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.
Who Arklow’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Wicklow’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 Arklow | Co. Wicklow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 36% | 23% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 16% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 52% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 50% | 20% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 4% | 6% |
Around Arklow, 36% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 23% in Co. Wicklow. The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 50% here, 29% there. Of the DEIS schools here, Glenart College is the biggest: 633 pupils.
Each of the 9 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenart CollegePost-primary · ETB | 633 | 47% | ✓ | |
| St Marys CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 527 | 100% | ||
| Arklow CBSPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 392 | 0% | ||
| St John's Senior SchoolPrimary | 323 | 51% | ✓ | |
| Gaelcholáiste na MaraPost-primary · ETB | 279 | 48% | ✓ | |
| St Michael's and St Peter's Junior SchoolPrimary | 250 | 54% | ✓ | |
| Gaelscoil an Inbhir MhoirPrimary | 242 | 52% | ✓ | |
| Carysfort Mxd N.S.Primary | 197 | 52% | ||
| St Josephs N.S.Primary | 500 | 50% |
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 Arklow’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
5 of Arklow’s 9 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Archbishop of Dublin (3), Kildare & Wicklow ETB (2) and CEIST (1). 3 of the 9 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 6 patrons of Arklow’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
6 patrons run the 9 schools around Arklow; the largest, Archbishop of Dublin, has 3 of them and 32% of the pupils. Education and Training Boards run 2 of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbishop of DublinSt Josephs, St John's Senior School, St Michael's and St Peter's Junior School | Catholic | 3 | 1,073 |
| Kildare & Wicklow ETBGlenart College, Gaelcholáiste na Mara | Multi-denominational | 2 | 912 |
| CEISTSt Marys College | Catholic | 1 | 527 |
| Edmund Rice Schools TrustArklow CBS | Catholic | 1 | 392 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil an Inbhir Mhoir | Inter-denominational | 1 | 242 |
| Archbishop of Dublin & Bishop of Glendalough COICarysfort Mxd | Church of Ireland | 1 | 197 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Arklow
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
1 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 5 have shrunk by as much, out of 9; across Ireland: +5%.
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 9 schools in and around Arklow
Each school in or within 3 km of Arklow links to a page of its own. No letters, no results: Irish schools aren’t ranked one by one.
Inspection reports for Arklow’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 9 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Glenart CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Marys CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Arklow CBSPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St John's Senior SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelcholáiste na MaraPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Michael's and St Peter's Junior SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil an Inbhir MhoirPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Carysfort Mxd N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Josephs N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Arklow
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
4 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Arklow: 2 voluntary secondary schools and 2 ETB schools. 2 teach girls and boys apart: 1 girls’ and 1 boys’ schools. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Marys CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 527 | 0.3 km |
| Arklow CBSVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 392 | 0.4 km |
| Gaelcholáiste na MaraETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 279 | 0.7 km |
| Glenart CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 633 | 0.9 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Arklow
No special school is in or near Arklow. 4 of the 5 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.
Arklow beside the 82 other Irish towns of 9,400 to 18,100 people
Schools in or within 3 km of each town, by population; none is ranked, as Ireland publishes no results
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Templeogue | 18,076 | 118 | 40,646 | 8 | 34% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Knocklyon | 13,854 | 75 | 27,868 | 6 | 23% | 0.3 km |
| Deansrath | 13,743 | 64 | 26,713 | 6 | 34% | 0.3 km |
| Whitehall | 13,675 | 132 | 37,232 | 12 | 61% | 0.2 km |
| Mallow | 13,456 | 11 | 4,357 | 1 | 18% | 0.6 km |
| Arklow | 13,399 | 9 | 3,343 | 2 | 33% | 0.3 km |
| Ongar | 13,390 | 42 | 22,425 | 3 | 21% | 0.3 km |
| Sallynoggin | 13,245 | 51 | 15,036 | 2 | 24% | 0.6 km |
| Castlebar | 13,054 | 12 | 4,272 | 1 | 17% | 0.3 km |
| Fettercairn | 12,970 | 72 | 25,995 | 8 | 50% | 0.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Trim | 9,563 | 7 | 3,065 | 1 | 14% | 0.5 km |
Of the other 82 towns, 74 have more pupils at the schools around them than Arklow. Every one of them has an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Arklow
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 Arklow had 3,492 pupils in 2015/16 and 3,343 in 2025/26, fewer than before. Glenart College grew most: +52% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Arklow
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 Arklow
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
Since 2019/20 the pupils around Arklow changed by −7%; among its neighbours, Rathdrum’s grew most (+20%) and Aughrim’s least (−18%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Arklow 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 Arklow
How many schools are there in Arklow?
In Arklow or within 3 km of it: 5 primary schools and 4 secondary schools, with 3,343 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Arklow that teach through Irish?
Yes, 2: Gaelcholáiste na Mara and Gaelscoil an Inbhir Mhoir teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Arklow?
No: all 4 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Arklow?
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 Arklow?
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).