Online School in Ireland: Working Beside Free, Good Schools Rather Than Instead of Them

By Alfred Ouko, Founder · October 2026 · 9 min read

Ireland is a different conversation from most countries we work in. Its state schools are free for residents, including families who have just arrived, and the Leaving Certificate is respected well beyond Ireland. Most families, including many on international assignments, should use them, and I would rather say that at the start. This guide is about the families for whom a free, good local school still leaves a gap: those on assignments that will end, those who arrived from the UK partway through GCSEs, and those in a city where the nearest international school is a long drive or does not exist. For them, a live online school works best beside the Irish school, not instead of it.

Where the international families are

They follow the multinationals. In Dublin, Google, Meta and LinkedIn run large European operations, many of them around the Docklands, and the International Financial Services Centre holds banks, funds and insurers. Cork has Apple’s European headquarters at Hollyhill and a pharmaceutical cluster around Ringaskiddy. Galway is the centre of Ireland’s medical technology industry, with Medtronic and Boston Scientific among the large employers. Limerick has Analog Devices and Dell, Kildare has Intel’s manufacturing campus at Leixlip, and Waterford has Bausch + Lomb. Since the Brexit vote, financial services firms have also moved staff and families from London to Dublin. Many of these households expect to be in Ireland for a few years and then somewhere else, and that expectation shapes every schooling decision they make.

The gap a free school can leave

Ireland’s international schools are concentrated in south Dublin, where Nord Anglia International School Dublin and the IB at St Andrew’s College serve the capital well. Outside Dublin there is little or nothing. The Irish system itself is built around a two-year Leaving Certificate leading to CAO points, which is excellent for a student who stays. For a family that may leave after eighteen months, it can be the wrong commitment. A UK family arriving with a child in the middle of GCSEs has no Irish school offering the same courses. And a child arriving older may find Irish a new compulsory subject, though students who arrive from abroad may qualify for an exemption, which the school applies under the Department of Education’s rules.

How a live online school fits

Usually beside the Irish school. The student attends the local school for the day, its friendships and its sport, and takes one or two Cambridge subjects live in the after-school slot: an A Level the school does not offer, Further Mathematics, or the IGCSE a UK family wants to finish. That keeps the record portable for the next move without giving up the Irish school. Families who choose full-time education at home register with Tusla under section 14 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, and an educational welfare officer may assess the education provided. Families arriving from abroad should confirm with Tusla how registration applies to them before they start. We provide the course records and progress reports that make that conversation straightforward.

Subjects, class times and examinations

Demand in Ireland follows the employers. Families in Cork and Galway want Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics; Dublin’s finance and technology families add Economics and Computer Science. Ireland is three hours behind our Nairobi teaching base in winter and two in summer, so live classes fall in the Irish morning for full-time students and in an afternoon slot after the school day for those studying alongside a school. Every lesson is recorded. Cambridge examinations are sat at authorised exam centres, which in Ireland means a limited number of venues or a short flight to a UK centre. Families book, and we confirm centres per family, per session. Irish universities accept A Levels through the CAO, and UK universities through UCAS.

When the Irish school is the right answer

A family settling in Ireland for good, with a child happy in a local school and heading for an Irish university, does not need us. The Leaving Certificate and the CAO are the natural route, and the school is free. Our value here is specific: a portable record for families whose next posting is already in view, continuity for UK families partway through GCSEs or A Levels, subjects a school timetable cannot fit, and a structured programme for the smaller number of families who register with Tusla to educate at home. Fees start from USD 423 a month for Primary, about EUR 389, and vary by curriculum and level. Where none of the situations above applies, the local school will serve your child well.

Ireland gives every resident child a free and good school, and most families should take it. Where a family’s stay will end, where a UK course is half-finished, or where a subject is missing, a live Cambridge track beside the Irish school keeps every door open without closing the local one. Book an assessment and we will plan the subjects around your family’s next few years.

Frequently asked questions

What time are live classes in Ireland?

Ireland is three hours behind Nairobi in winter and two in summer. Classes run in the Irish morning, with an afternoon slot for students studying alongside a school, and every lesson is recorded.

Can my child attend an Irish school and study with you?

Yes, and it is the most common arrangement. The Irish school carries the enrolment, while we teach one or two Cambridge subjects live after the school day.

Do we need to register with Tusla?

Families educating a child at home register with Tusla under section 14 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000. Families studying with us alongside a school do not change their school enrolment.

Will Irish universities accept Cambridge A Levels?

Yes. Irish universities accept A Levels through the CAO, with requirements set per course. Check each course’s requirements early.

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