Moving from UK to Ireland - 14 year son's education

Hi,

We are planning a move to Ireland from the UK. My wife is Irish and we have 2 sons, aged 9 and 14.

My eldest is in year 9 and has just chosen his options and is starting his GCSEs in September.

We just spoke with a lady at a school in the area we want to move to, and it turns out that children his age will be starting the 3rd and final year of the 'Junior Cert' in September.

She advised that it isn't a good idea for our son to start school in Ireland at this stage as he will have to cram in 3 years worth of work into 1 year.

We tend to agree.

So, we are now considering the option of moving in 2 years, at the end of my son's GCSEs when he is 16.

At this time, he will be ready to start the Irish 'Leaving Cert' at the same time as Irish students his age. As far as I can tell, the Leaving Cert is more or less the equivalent to our 'A' Levels.

However, it seems that, in Ireland, you have to do a minimum of 5/6 subjects, with Irish being compulsory. We are worried that 5/6 compulsory 'Leaving Cert' subjects may be a bit much as you would normally do 3 or 4 'A' Levels in the UK.

So, if we were to move at the end of my son's GCSE's, what sort of options would he have, in terms of choosing what subjects to take, how many he would have to take and would Irish be compulsory? Also, would he be able to do his Leaving Cert in college as opposed to a secondary school?

Anyone with any experience of this? Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

This isn't really an immigration question. Suggest get in touch with the education authorities in Ireland to understand things better.

This isn't really an immigration question. Suggest get in touch with the education authorities in Ireland to understand things better.