Educate Together has today welcomed the announcement of the national-level results of the recent survey on school type preference, announced by the Minister for Education and Youth this morning.
According to the results, 40% of parents nationally would prefer a multi-denominational primary school. This contrasts starkly with current school provision, whereby 95.1% of primary school remain under denominational control.
Speaking today, Educate Together CEO Dr Emer Nowlan said:
“We have seen demand for Educate Together schools growing steadily in recent years, and these results confirm that current school provision is completely out of step. We look forward to the release of school-level survey data, so that these results can be acted on. We know that there are many schools around the country where there is a clear preference for Educate Together among a majority of parents and staff. We look forward to engaging with those schools to support them through the transfer process.”
With a total of 3,067 primary schools in the country, if school provision were to match parents’ ethos preferences, there would be more than 1,200 multi-denominational schools available, whereas currently there are just 155, so there is a long way to go before demand can be met.
The government’s current Framework and Action Plan for Delivery of Increased Choice for Parents on Education Provision at Primary Level outlines a three-step process for change:
-
Department identifies schools where there is strong demand for change through the Primary School survey
-
Department facilitator supports a process of dialogue in schools identified (from Q2 2026)
-
Schools select a new patron and change patronage (from September 2027).
Educate Together is urging the government to announce school level data, and to provide adequate resourcing and investment to support the next steps of the process, so that choice can be provided in every part of the country.
Educate Together has considerable experience of supporting schools through the patronage transfer process, and has developed a Reconfiguration Information Pack for schools considering patronage transfer, which is available by clicking the button below.
