Recognised primary and post primary schools are prohibited from charging school application fees.
Section 64 of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, which was commenced on 3 October 2018, explicitly prohibits the charging of fees or seeking payment or contributions for admission to or for continued enrolment in a school.
Section 64 applies to all recognised primary and post primary schools with exceptions only for fee charging secondary schools, boarding schools and schools that provide post leaving courses or courses in further education in respect of these courses.
In relation to school fees, there are certain charges that may be legitimately requested by schools when a pupil is enrolled in school, such as for lockers, photocopying or school journals. However, such charges may not associated with, or used as a condition of admission to a school placement.
Should an individual have a concern regarding admission fees being sought by a school, or they are concerned about the manner in which the school is requesting payment, they can raise this with the principal of the in the first instance. Should they not be satisfied with their response then the Chairperson of the Board of Management of the can be contacted school in relation to the concerns.
