School planning area

New Ross

13 primary schools and 2,069 pupils in 2025/26, in Counties Kilkenny and Wexford.

Pupils in 2025/26
2,069
+6 on 2024/25
Since 2015/16
+40.6%
1,472 pupils in 2015/16
Schools
13
No change on 2024/25
Average class size
20.94
Average school size: 159.2

By county

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

Change over
Wexford 10 1,752
+55.2%
+92.7%
Kilkenny 3 317
−7.6%
+44.7%

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 Kilkenny and Wexford, schools with no planning area had 3.8% of pupils in 2015/16, 7.7% in 2005/06 and 27.7% in 1975/76. Known data issues

Pupils

2,069

+6 on 2024/25

1975/762025/26

Schools

13

10 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average pupils per school

159.2

116.0 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average class size

20.94

−0.29 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. 239 in 2025/26, +1 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

No school in this area teaches all subjects through Irish.

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

10 schools with figures for both years

Schools still filling their classes in 2015/16, and schools opened since, are listed separately.

5fell by 10% or more
1within 10%
4grew by 10% or more
Down 25% or more · 4Down 10 to 25% · 1Within 10% · 1Up 10 to 25% · 2Up 25% or more · 2

Average class size in these schools went from 25.9 in 2015/16 to 23.1 in 2025/26. 1 of the 5 schools that fell by 10% or more kept or added classes. 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.

Newer schools

3 schools still filling their classes in 2015/16 or opened since, with 798 pupils between them. They aren’t in the figures above.

Class sizes

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

Average class size
20.94
Mainstream classes
95
Classes of 30 or more
4
Schools with a class of 30+
3

Teachers

Teachers in the 13 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
95
Up 50 since 2006/07, while pupils rose 78%
Teaching posts in 2025/26
about 153
Estimate: 95 class teachers, 7 principals and deputies, 37 special education and 14 special class teachers
Teachers in 2015/16
79
The Department's last count of every teacher
Since 2024/25
1 / 1
1 school gained a class teacher, 1 lost one

Class teachers since 2006/07

One for each mainstream class, every school year

Special schools and special classes

0 special schools in the New Ross planning area, and the special classes in the 13 mainstream schools. Special schools aren't counted in the pupils, class sizes or teachers above.

All special schools
Pupils in special schools
0
No special school here
Special classes in 2025/26
14
In 6 of 13 schools. 6 in 2020/21
Allocated for 2026/27
17
In 7 schools: 3 new classes, 1 school with its first
Autism classes
12
86% of special classes

Special classes since 2020/21

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

  • 2020/21 6
  • 2021/22 8
  • 2022/23 8
  • 2023/24 9
  • 2024/25 12
  • 2025/26 14
  • 2026/27 17

2026/27, dashed: allocated for next year.

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

What parents would prefer

651 households answered the Department of Education and Youth's Primary School Survey for the New Ross planning area: 479 with children at its schools and 172 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
651
38% of households asked
Prefer a multi-denominational patron
38% / 42%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer teaching through Irish
14% / 27%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer single-sex
2% / 2%
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

135 pupils (7%) in 1 school

  • Pupils in such schools now: 7%
  • Parents: children at school: 38%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 42%

Teaching through Irish

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 14%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 27%

Single-sex

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 2%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 2%

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
Bunscoil RisNew Ross 351 78 of 295 ±9.2 35%6%4% –
Bunscoil Nic AmhlaidhNew Ross 312 88 of 259 ±8.6 36%11%5% –
S N Rath an IubhairEnniscorthy 187 51 of 114 ±11.2 33%12%0% –
St Canice S ConventNew Ross 186 37 of 133 ±13.1 35%19%3% –
Rathgarogue N SNew Ross 159 41 of 116 ±12.4 24%17%2% –
S N Baile CuisinFoulksmills 155 60 of 110 ±10.4 28%20%3% –
S N RaithinEnniscorthy 154 71 of 103 ±9.6 28%17%1% –
Scoil Mholainge Listerlinvia Waterford 148 19 of 75 ±17.7 26%11%5% –
New Ross Educate Together National SchoolNew Ross 135 44 of 101 ±12 84%27%0% –
The Rower Mixed N SThomastown 115 24 of 60 ±15.9 29%17%0% –
St Joseph's N.S.Enniscorthy 79 15 of 51 ±19.5 40%13%7% –
S N Baile an Fhasaighvia New Ross 54 25 of 37 ±15.6 32%16%0% –
S N Shean BhothNew Ross 34 9 of 19 ±24 22%11%0% –

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

13 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
Bunscoil RisNew Ross 20482J Wexford 351 – – 17 18.88 23 0
Bunscoil Nic AmhlaidhNew Ross 20481H Wexford 312 – – 17 16.94 19 0
S N Rath an IubhairEnniscorthy 17707N Wexford 187
+12.7%
+36.5%
7 25.86 36 1
St Canice S ConventNew Ross 01840C Wexford 186
−29.8%
−29.0%
7 26.57 34 2
Rathgarogue N SNew Ross 16023B Wexford 159
−26.4%
−7.6%
7 21.00 32 1
S N Baile CuisinFoulksmills 16673R Wexford 155
−33.2%
+15.7%
7 21.71 29 0
S N RaithinEnniscorthy 18191J Wexford 154
+23.2%
+85.5%
6 25.67 29 0
Scoil Mholainge Listerlinvia Waterford 18748J Kilkenny 148
+27.6%
+111.4%
6 24.67 29 0
New Ross Educate Together National SchoolNew Ross 20458M Wexford 135 – – 7 19.29 23 0
The Rower Mixed N SThomastown 15160G Kilkenny 115
−31.1%
−1.7%
5 22.00 24 0
St Joseph's N.S.Enniscorthy 17638U Wexford 79
−9.2%
−7.1%
4 19.75 22 0
S N Baile an Fhasaighvia New Ross 18257N Kilkenny 54
−10.0%
+68.8%
3 18.00 24 0
S N Shean BhothNew Ross 17471K Wexford 34
+47.8%
−5.6%
2 17.00 17 0