Over 34% of eligible households have their say to date on primary school survey, with 168,000 responses so far
Minister for Education and Youth is urging all parents of primary school and pre-school children and school communities to have their say on the future of their primary school before the survey closes on 16 December 2025.
Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton TD, has today encouraged parents and guardians with children in primary school, and those with younger children, to take part in the online survey of primary school communities.
The survey – the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland – is school specific and aims to assess parental demand and preferences for different types of primary school provision including patronage/ethos, co-education or single-sex school provision and language of instruction (English or Irish).
The survey was launched on 4 November and will close on Tuesday 16 December.
Parents and guardians of children who are either in, or soon to start, primary school, including staff and Boards of Management, are being invited to have their say in the final days of the survey.
Minister Naughton said: “Parents and guardians are the real experts when it comes to their children, and it is only right that their voices are placed at the core of how we provide education in Ireland.
“I would like to see a strong response rate for every primary school to ensure that we have heard the views of as many households and communities as possible.
“I and my department want to know what parents and school communities want for their school, and, as the closing date for this survey looms, I am encouraging parents, guardians and wider school communities to engage to ensure that their views form part of our future.”
Continuing, Minister Naughton said: “By assessing parental demand in every community, we can identify what the need is and work with schools to support them through that process. This survey is just the beginning of our engagement. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will follow.
“Where schools wish to explore options, my department will provide direct support, including the appointment of a facilitator to work with boards, staff and parents.
“Further engagement with stakeholders will assist in strengthening approaches already in place, ensuring clarity and consistency for schools and parents, ensuring that every child’s right to an inclusive and respectful education experience is upheld.”
All responses to the survey will remain confidential and anonymous.
The Department of Education and Youth has robust arrangements in place to ensure the integrity and security of the primary school survey process. Arrangements for validating survey returns operate after survey returns are received as this facilitates ease of use for survey users.
Information regarding co-education, patronage / ethos and education through Irish can be accessed here: www.gov.ie/primaryschoolsurvey.
The online survey is available here: www.gov.ie/primaryschoolsurvey.
The department will use the survey results to input into its analysis of national, local and school-specific data to help the department in respect of planning at primary school level. The department will work with relevant stakeholders on actioning the outcomes from the surveys in the context of future school planning. This survey is not a final step. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will begin.
County breakdown of response rates to date
The figures in the table below relate to the Primary School Survey of parents and guardians. The figures are initial overall response rates and have yet to be fully validated.
| County | Eligible households | Response Rate to date | |
| CARLOW | 6,593 | 33.90% | |
| CAVAN | 10,320 | 33.10% | |
| CLARE | 9,186 | 32.00% | |
| CORK | 54,904 | 32.80% | |
| DONEGAL | 15,155 | 33.40% | |
| DUBLIN | 132,717 | 34.40% | |
| GALWAY | 21,261 | 40.50% | |
| KERRY | 12,906 | 33.30% | |
| KILDARE | 29,709 | 36.10% | |
| KILKENNY | 7,353 | 35.40% | |
| LAOIS | 8,785 | 30.60% | |
| LEITRIM | 2,566 | 40.00% | |
| LIMERICK | 21,846 | 33.70% | |
| LONGFORD | 4,627 | 35.40% | |
| LOUTH | 18,960 | 32.10% | |
| MAYO | 12,708 | 37.50% | |
| MEATH | 16,767 | 33.00% | |
| MONAGHAN | 6,242 | 34.50% | |
| OFFALY | 7,408 | 32.70% | |
| ROSCOMMON | 8,609 | 38.30% | |
| SLIGO | 6,505 | 35.60% | |
| TIPPERARY | 14,620 | 33.30% | |
| WATERFORD | 14,717 | 35.30% | |
| WESTMEATH | 10,875 | 36.20% | |
| WEXFORD | 16,256 | 36.10% | |
| WICKLOW | 13,987 | 35.80% |
Aggregation to county level is approximate. Responses are initially aggregated to Eircode routing-key regions, defined by the first three characters of the Eircode. Each routing-key region is then assigned to the county containing the largest share of its land area, in order to derive indicative county-level figures. Following the close of the survey, full Eircodes will be geocoded using licensed reference data, allowing responses to be allocated more precisely to geographical areas for final analysis.
The figures are initial overall response rates and have yet to be fully validated. The arrangements for validating survey returns operate after survey returns are received as this facilitates ease of use for survey users. The Eircode parents and guardians provide to the primary schools their children attend is a key aspect. Submitted Eircodes are checked against the department’s Primary Online Database (POD) in respect of primary school children and Child Benefit data in respect of younger children to ensure that the responses are from households with primary school children or younger children. The department’s validation process also involves checks for duplicate responses.
