Move from UK to Ireland...Help!!! (title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[Pinnochiosnose]

I know this has been well covered but I would love to hear from those who have made the move. We are both Irish, left 15 years ago, living in London and are thinking about moving back to Ireland. DH wants to go back because of family, I just think it's a better option for the DC which for me takes precedence. We have two special needs kids which has essentially meant they all need private schooling (yes we tried public schools, they did not work, and we just had to move them into private schools) which in London is crippling from a financial point of view, a lot less costly in Ireland. That coupled with the notion that I prefer the school system there with the slightly broader range of subjects studied at sixth form level. Apart from that I'm about 50% on board and the rest undecided. Youngest is in year 7 and doesn't want to budge from UK as here is all he knows but middle child really wants to go.
Workwise there are no issues as we both work for International companies so effectively we can continue our current jobs in Ireland. Housing (like for everyone else in Ireland) is a big issue. I don't want to sell up here as I would like to keep a base in UK just in case we aren't happy in Ireland and want to return to UK. Also I don't want to cut all ties with London as I have friends here and my eldest child would stay here so that give him somewhere to live

Just wanted to hear from those who have made the move, whether you are glad you did so and any regrets! How did your SEN (or not SEN) kids get on with the move? What do you miss most about UK ? Does anyone have any experience of the international schools in Dublin? And how have you found getting a house, rental and buying? Cheers!

Yes has definitely changed so. What is the rationale for it I wonder.

@Pinnochiosnose
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Yes I've also heard that private schools in Ireland aren't necessarily the best option for SEN but I had such an awful experience here in London with public schools and SEN kids that I'm not terribly anxious to return to public. I've heard about Nord Anglia and I'm really surprised by the lack of International schools considering there are probably a lot more people*

I'd keep an open mind with schools. Go see a few. Ireland actually has one of the lowest rates of private education in Europe. Which probably explains the lack of international schools. Going to private primary is rare to say the least. secondary it depends where you move to; but it's certainly possible to get a good education in a state school. Having looked at several schools for secondary. It's my view that many private schools are focused on good leaving cert results and offering good sporting opportunities- competitive environments that may not suit your children.

In the UK you seem to be stuck to a catchment area system. Here you are free to apply to any school (although you may not get in - as they take from within the catchment area first) - but we still had a decent choice between a few excellent school.

I've never heard of anyone considering private because their child has SEN. It doesn't seem to be a selling point of private schools here.

@Pinnochiosnose In England, certainly when DS started school, a child needed to start school at the start of the academic year during which s/he turned 5, and if they deferred, they skipped Reception and went straight into Year 1.

Ireland is more flexible — I think the only hard and fast rule is they need to have started their education by 6, which means there’s a much wider age range in each class.

So although DS, when we moved from England to Ireland, moved into the ‘right’ class in terms of numbers of years spent at school, he was the class baby. All his friends in his class were at least a year older, and one was nearly eighteen months older.

Going against the grain here but I have children with SEN in private primary and secondary schools in Dublin, and there are a material number of other neurodiverse or children with disabilities there, so it's not unheard of.

The level of support is extremely school-dependent but that goes for both state and fee-paying schools. I know quite a few other parents with children in both types of schools and how their kids are doing varies massively. Many schools - with and without fees - will talk the talk but not walk the walk. There is no substitute for visiting the schools and trying to find other parents in a similar position who can give you an insight into their own experiences.

You need to be aware that if you choose a fee-paying school which does not have any Department of Education funding (which is almost all of the private primaries) you will not be entitled to any of the supports you'll find in a non-private school. There will be no SNAs (unless the school hires them directly, which most don't), you won't get July provision (summer tuition for SEN children), you won't get the laptop grant if your child needs assistive technology. Probably not constitutional but unless someone takes a case it's not going to change. In our case we felt the smaller classes and supportive school environment outweighed what we'd be giving up, and we have never had reason to regret this decision.

Interestingly, many of the private schools will - as another poster has said - tell you that they may not be able to support your child (I have had this conversation myself) because they don't have access to the department supports, but in practice can be fantastic.

Secondary school is different as the vast majority of fee-paying secondary schools also receive DOE funding so do have the SNAs etc.

On a different note - Nord Anglia is probably the most expensive school in the country with fees 3 times that of most of the private schools here. One of my son's former classmates moved to Nord Anglia as his parents were from the US and they were planning on going back at some point so wanted a more international education. At that time almost all of the children in that school were in a similar position and the education was tailored accordingly i.e. to expats looking to do the IB and didn’t necessarily follow the national curriculum. We have lost touch with them now so I don't know if the situation is still the same but I would think that if your plan is to be here long term sending your children there would be an extremely expensive way to get an education which you could find for a fraction of the price elsewhere.

Hi Honeyrider (love the name!)
Interesting that you say your kids have more freedom. How come? Do you feel safer in Ireland or what was it?

Thanks to all for your messages! It's fantastic to be able to read other people's experiences. Very helpful info regarding public schools there which has made me change my mind on that front. I suppose it's not the private aspect of the school that attracts me it's the small class sizes that they offer (in UK anyway). This has been key for my youngest child who completely sank in a large school and thrived in a small class.
I have heard though that there are massive waiting lists for schools in Dublin. Has anyone found this so?

On the waiting lists - if you’re trying to find a place in first year (secondary school) it can be exceptionally challenging as many schools are oversubscribed and their places fill up quickly. There is a defined process for first year applications whereby students apply in the previous October and places begin to be allocated in November. If you are trying to find a place in first year for September 2025 entry you would be very unlikely to get your school of choice at this stage.

For other year groups (primary and secondary) it is easier - you just contact your preferred schools and if they have an opening they’ll let you know. Some primary schools (particularly the private ones) are feeder schools for certain secondary schools and their students get preferred access to those schools’ places. You often see students transferring into these schools in fifth or sixth class so that they will get their secondary school of choice.

I would also agree that a private primary school here in Ireland would not be the best for a chid with SEN.
They would get greater assistance in the national school system.

The fees in private secondary schools are low compared to the UK as the government pay a substantial amount to these private schools re supplementing the salary bill and pension entitlements.
Not so in private primary schools in Ireland.
They are entirely funded by fee income.

Is it definitely Dublin you’ll be moving to @Pinnochiosnose? As others have said the difficulty level might depend somewhat on the classes they are joining. What age will your DC be when you move?

One big difference between state and private secondary here is that private schools can have bigger classes, especially during the leaving cycle. State schools are funded to a lower student teacher ratio. And small village schools may well have much bigger classes sizes, which again is different to the UK.
And of course there is no unified application system, so you'll need to start talking to schools early on in the process. Its a lot of work.

This article gives an indication of the private primary school fees out there and is pretty accurate based on my own research. It’s a few years old so you’ll have to add a chunk for inflation but apart from a few outliers they aren’t massively different from private secondary school fees.

There are schools in Ireland that do the IB but aren’t international schools, Villiers Secodnary in Limerick for example, there may be others. Are you fairly set on Dublin?

I work in a big secondary school in Dublin and the SEN provision is pretty good.

I have heard though that there are massive waiting lists for schools in Dublin. Has anyone found this so?
@Pinnochiosnose
Depends on where in Dublin. Some areas are a lot worse than others. Where l live (old suburb in south Dublin) not bad at all. Where I work (new suburb in North West Dublin long waiting lists.

Apart from Nord Anglia, there really aren't any other truly private secondary schools. The likes of Blackrock, Belvedere, Andrews, Wesley are fee paying but they still receive funding from the government.

In Dublin, Nord Anglia, Andrews and Columba's would probably be the most international.

An article from today on day and boarding fees ‘Parents make the sacrifice because they believe in it’ – private schools raise fees by up to €1,300 this year | Irish Independent

In South East Dublin, the waiting lists can be pretty bad. Often the places are allocated on a lottery basis. Some fee paying secondaries will have feeder schools (Andrews for example takes in kids from local CoI schools first), most won't. The schools publish their annual admissions notice so you should be able to deduce from that the likelihood of getting in. 1st years for 2025/2026 have now been allocated.

If I needed SEN supports for my kids, I wouldn't go near a fee paying school, even more so if there were behavioral issues. A state school is a better option imo.

If your kids are into certain sports (rugby, hockey for boys) a fee paying school is really your only option.

I think it must be variable - my eldest has some SEN, and his national school was great, and his private secondary is similarly great (I just signed the paperwork so he can type during his Junior Cert exams, all organised by them - from the moment he started, they were spot on with the support he needed, and it was never an issue during the application process)

He is the youngest in his year, but there's been a wide spread throughout, because of how deferment works here, you can have nearly 2 years between the eldest and youngest in a class. My youngest started in one year, but moved down after half a term when we moved here (he couldn't read - a down side of international schools elsewhere). Childcare can be difficult to find too - spaces are at a premium (I ended up having another mum mind mine, which is a lot more accessible here, you don't have to register or anything to be a childminder)

Dublin (and anywhere within even vaguely sensible reach of Dublin) prices are crazy though, really hard to find somewhere to rent, and the quality isn't great when you do. I really appreciate how much more society oriented it is though - kids play out, walk home/to school, I quickly made friends at the gate and we all help each other out.

Thanks again all! Yes it would most likely be Dublin because of work and it's where we know best, where family is. I don't remember school entry being so competitive when living there but i see a lot of schools are turning co-ed now which suits my kids. Looks like things have changed a lot. What about attitudes towards an English RP accent? This also worries me too....

It really depends on the area. Plenty of kids in the very affluent suburbs with English parents, noone will bat an eyelid.