School planning area

Ballinasloe

16 primary schools and 1,985 pupils in 2025/26, in Counties Galway and Roscommon.

Pupils in 2025/26
1,985
+1 on 2024/25
Since 2015/16
+17.7%
1,686 pupils in 2015/16
Schools
16
No change on 2024/25
Average class size
20.85
Average school size: 124.1

By county

This planning area crosses county lines. Select a county to see its part of the area.

Change over
Galway 12 1,603
+18.5%
+10.6%
Roscommon 4 382
+14.7%
+27.8%

Each year counts the schools in this planning area today, plus any that closed from 2023/24. Dotted lines bridge 1983/84 to 1992/93. 1974/75 is left out because that year's source file is missing five counties.

Earlier years are incomplete

The Department's files only record planning areas from 2023/24, so schools that closed or amalgamated before then aren't counted in any area. The further back you go, the more pupils are missing, and an amalgamation can look like a sudden rise. Across Counties Galway and Roscommon, schools with no planning area had 6.6% of pupils in 2015/16, 10.3% in 2005/06 and 34.2% in 1975/76. Known data issues

Pupils

1,985

+1 on 2024/25

1975/762025/26

Schools

16

12 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average pupils per school

124.1

83.1 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average class size

20.85

−0.86 on 2024/25

2006/072025/26

Pupils in these schools

Junior infants, girls and boys, and Irish-medium schools over time, for the same schools as the trends above.

Junior infants

Pupils starting school each year. Class-by-class figures start in 2020/21. 223 in 2025/26, −30 on 2024/25.

Girls and boys

From 1976/77: earlier files don't split every school's pupils into girls and boys.

Irish-medium schools

Pupils in schools that teach all subjects through Irish (1 school today). 193 pupils in 2025/26, 9.7% of the area's pupils, against 12.0% in 2015/16. Each school counts under its current classification for every year.

Growing and falling since 2015/16

Each school's change in pupils over 10 years, from 2015/16 to 2025/26. A change of 10% or more either way counts as growing or falling.

Every school's change

16 schools with figures for both years

1fell by 10% or more
6within 10%
9grew by 10% or more
Down 25% or more · 0Down 10 to 25% · 1Within 10% · 6Up 10 to 25% · 3Up 25% or more · 6

Average class size in these schools went from 22.6 in 2015/16 to 20.8 in 2025/26. A fall in pupils can mean smaller classes rather than fewer children wanting places. Smaller classes

Sort the table below by the change column to see which schools grew or fell most.

Class sizes

Mainstream class groups only. The source does not identify which standard/year group each class group belongs to.

Average class size
20.85
Mainstream classes
93
Classes of 30 or more
4
Schools with a class of 30+
3

Teachers

Teachers in the 16 mainstream primary schools here, 2006/07 to 2025/26. Class teachers are counted every year; all teaching posts where they're known.

How we count teachers
Class teachers in 2025/26
93
Up 18 since 2006/07, while pupils rose 13%
Teaching posts in 2025/26
about 154
Estimate: 93 class teachers, 4 principals and deputies, 48 special education and 9 special class teachers
Teachers in 2015/16
124
The Department's last count of every teacher
Since 2024/25
4 / 0
4 schools gained a class teacher, 0 lost one

Class teachers since 2006/07

One for each mainstream class, every school year

Special schools and special classes

1 special school in the Ballinasloe planning area, and the special classes in its 16 mainstream schools. Special schools aren't counted in the pupils, class sizes or teachers above.

All special schools
Pupils in special schools
47
In 1 school, up from 15 in 2015/16
Special classes in 2025/26
9
In 6 of 16 schools. 3 in 2020/21
Allocated for 2026/27
10
In 6 schools: 1 new class
Autism classes
6
67% of special classes

Special classes since 2020/21

In the Ballinasloe planning area's mainstream schools, from the NCSE's yearly lists

  • 2020/21 3
  • 2021/22 3
  • 2022/23 6
  • 2023/24 8
  • 2024/25 9
  • 2025/26 9
  • 2026/27 10

2026/27, dashed: allocated for next year.

Special schools in the Ballinasloe planning area
Special school Pupils Since 2015/16 Teaching posts SNAs
St. Teresa's Special SchoolBallinalsoe · Severe or profound general learning disability 47
+213.3%
8 23

Sources: Department of Education enrolment lists; NCSE special class lists and special school allocations (CC BY 4.0).

What parents would prefer

665 households answered the Department of Education and Youth's Primary School Survey for the Ballinasloe planning area: 424 with children at its schools and 241 with children not yet at school. Each said whether they would prefer co-educational or single-sex schooling, a denominational or multi-denominational patron, and teaching through Irish or English.

Compare with other areas
Households that answered
665
41% of households asked
Prefer a multi-denominational patron
34% / 31%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer teaching through Irish
15% / 24%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer single-sex
1% / 4%
Children at school / not yet at school

Preferences beside what the schools offer now

Share of pupils in schools of each kind in the area, and share of parents who would prefer it

  • Pupils in such schools now
  • Parents: children at school
  • Parents: children not yet at school

Multi-denominational patron

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 34%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 31%

Teaching through Irish

193 pupils (10%) in 1 school

  • Pupils in such schools now: 10%
  • Parents: children at school: 15%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 24%

Single-sex

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 1%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 4%

Bars run from 0 to 50%.

Each school's parents

Parents of children at each school. Bold marks the school's set-up now.

Share of parents at each school who would prefer each
S N Muire gan SmalBallinasloe 445 127 of 282 ±7.2 37%8%2% 50 answered
Scoil an Chroi NaofaBallinasloe 293 40 of 191 ±12.6 35%0%0% –
SN Ui CheithearnaighBéal Átha na Slua 193 28 of 117 ±14.8 29%68%4% –
Baile Mor Siol AnmcadhaLawrencetown 117 25 of 71 ±15.6 24%16%4% –
S N Caitriona NaofaBallinasloe 117 37 of 76 ±13.1 43%16%0% –
Scoil Mhuire,Ballinasloe 115 24 of 69 ±15.9 67%4%4% –
S N Naomh CiaranAthlone 107 39 of 65 ±12.7 21%23%0% –
Cappatagle Central SCHBallinasloe 105 30 of 62 ±14.4 23%17%0% –
Taughmaconnell N SBallinasloe 105 26 of 63 ±15.4 42%8%0% –
Kiltormer N SBallinasloe 89 19 of 49 ±17.7 37%21%0% –
Aibhistin NaofaBallinasloe 80 22 of 56 ±16.5 32%18%5% –
S N Cill ConaillBallinasloe 65 Too few to publish – ––– –
Camcloon N SAthlone 55 16 of 38 ±19 25%12%6% –
S N Naomh TreasaBallinasloe 45 7 of 26 ±26.4 57%0%0% –
S N na hEaglaiseBallinasloe 37 Too few to publish – ––– –
The Glebe N.S.Ballinasloe 17 Too few to publish – ––– –

Grey margins of error are 15 points or more: so few parents answered that the figures could be well off. “Too few to publish”: the Department held back the school's results, but its parents' answers still count in the area figures. Not yet at school: how many parents of children not yet at school chose the school, shown where 30 or more did. Special schools in the area are counted in the area figures above.

Source: Department of Education and Youth, Primary School Survey results, published 23 June 2026. The area figures count each household once, including parents at schools too small for their own results, so they aren't the school figures added up. About these figures

Schools

16 schools, largest first. A dash in the change column means the school had no pupils recorded in that year, usually because it opened later or took a new roll number after an amalgamation.

Change over

Select a column heading to sort

Roll number
S N Muire gan SmalBallinasloe 17198S Galway 445
+7.2%
+12.1%
19 23.42 28 0
Scoil an Chroi NaofaBallinasloe 20042E Galway 293
+5.0%
+8.5%
15 18.33 26 0
SN Ui CheithearnaighBéal Átha na Slua 19969H Galway 193
−4.9%
+19.1%
8 24.12 35 1
Baile Mor Siol AnmcadhaLawrencetown 17170T Galway 117
+91.8%
+88.7%
5 21.00 28 0
S N Caitriona NaofaBallinasloe 17613E Galway 117
+27.2%
+0.9%
5 23.40 31 1
Scoil Mhuire,Ballinasloe 15531P Roscommon 115
+47.4%
+64.3%
5 23.00 29 0
S N Naomh CiaranAthlone 19368E Roscommon 107
−7.8%
−20.7%
4 25.25 31 2
Cappatagle Central SCHBallinasloe 19506N Galway 105
+8.2%
−9.5%
5 19.80 26 0
Taughmaconnell N SBallinasloe 15614T Roscommon 105
+16.7%
+28.0%
5 21.00 25 0
Kiltormer N SBallinasloe 01328P Galway 89
+206.9%
+4.7%
4 22.25 25 0
Aibhistin NaofaBallinasloe 17919F Galway 80
+116.2%
+42.9%
4 20.00 23 0
S N Cill ConaillBallinasloe 14377D Galway 65
+10.2%
−42.5%
3 21.67 27 0
Camcloon N SAthlone 15980V Roscommon 55
+12.2%
+358.3%
3 17.00 22 0
S N Naomh TreasaBallinasloe 10095T Galway 45
+125.0%
+164.7%
3 15.00 18 0
S N na hEaglaiseBallinasloe 15027E Galway 37
−17.8%
−11.9%
3 12.33 14 0
The Glebe N.S.Ballinasloe 15900U Galway 17
+6.2%
+30.8%
2 8.50 9 0