· updated monthly
The five schools Ireland parents researched most this year, chosen from the 9 international schools in the country. Ranked by how many families opened each school’s profile and spent time reading it between July 2025 and June 2026, then the full picture on curricula, class sizes and fees.
The 2026 ranking
Ranked purely by parent interest — the number of families who opened each school’s profile and spent time reading it between July 2025 and June 2026.
Villiers School is Ireland's only IB day and boarding school, offering the Irish national curriculum and the IB Diploma Programme. Celebrating its bicentennial, the school emphasises small class sizes, multicultural learning, and student wellbeing.
SEK International School Dublin offers the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP) for students aged 11 to 18. Located on a 250,000-square-meter campus in Greystones, the grounds feature a mix of historical buildings like Belvedere Hall alongside modern spaces, including a visual arts studio, a robotics multimedia lab, and an intelligent classroom. The curriculum is delivered entirely in English, with additional instruction available in Spanish, French, German, and Irish. A unique feature of the school is its collaboration with the Fundación Real Madrid, which gives students access to a dedicated soccer and sports education track. In addition, the campus supports the F1 in Schools engineering challenge and houses the SEK Stellar Programme to support high-achieving students. The campus also offers boarding facilities, including options for living with local host families or in the on-site student residence.
St. Andrew's College Dublin, located in Booterstown, is an inter-denominational, co-educational day school for students aged 4 to 18. The school delivers the Irish National Curriculum, guiding students through the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate. Uniquely, it is the only school in Ireland offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP) as an alternative in the senior cycle. The Junior School curriculum incorporates the play-based Aistear framework for early years. Students participate in specific signature programs such as the Model United Nations (MUN) and the Gaisce President's Award, emphasizing public speaking and community service. Extracurricular options include the One-Act Drama Festival, Scifest, and the Young Economist club. Facilities support these activities alongside structured physical education, choir groups, and a dedicated library equipped with an Accelerated Reader program to promote digital media literacy. St. Andrew’s serves an international student body representing over forty nationalities.
St. Kilian's Deutsche Schule Dublin is a bilingual day school located in Clonskeagh, offering an educational pathway from Kindergarten through to the Leaving Certificate. Founded in 1952, the school operates on a shared "Eurocampus" with the Lycée Français International Samuel Beckett. Students prepare for the Irish Junior and Leaving Certificates while simultaneously engaging with the German Curriculum (Sek-I stream), which allows them to take specific subjects entirely in German. A distinctive feature of St. Kilian's is the "One Teacher – One Language" immersion program in the Kindergarten, where native speakers facilitate early bilingualism without pressure. The campus features the multi-purpose Shamrock Hall, a dedicated gymnasium, and separate play areas for younger students. The school is particularly known for its active Model European Council and EU/MUN program, as well as culturally immersive traditions like the annual German Christmas Market and Sankt Martins Tag.
Lycée Français International Samuel Beckett's Foxrock Campus caters to children aged 3 to 11, focusing on early childhood and primary education. The campus follows the official French National Curriculum with a robust bilingual integration, ensuring daily English instruction for all students. Set in a quiet residential neighborhood of South Dublin, the Foxrock site features a close-knit, family-friendly environment with classrooms tailored for early motor skills and language acquisition. A distinctive aspect of the school is its status as an AEFE-accredited institution, allowing students to seamlessly transfer within a network of 552 French schools globally. Students begin their bilingual journey in the Petite Section, gradually building reading, writing, and mathematical skills in both French and English. The campus feeds directly into the Clonskeagh Eurocampus, where students prepare for dual certification through the French Brevet and the Irish Junior Cycle.
What’s on offer
The mix of programmes and teaching languages across all 9 schools. Many offer more than one curriculum, so totals run higher than the school count.
Number of schools teaching each curriculum.
Number of schools teaching in each language.
Size & classes
School size and class size shape day-to-day experience as much as curriculum does.
Schools grouped by total enrolment.
Average school size is 517 students · based on the 7 schools that report enrolment.
Schools grouped by typical class size.
Average class size is 17.2 students · based on the 5 schools that report it.
What it costs
Fees shown are one year for a 12-year-old (or the closest age available), excluding one-time enrolment costs.
Across the 7 schools that publish a price for a 12-year-old. All figures in EUR.
How many schools sit in each annual-fee range.
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