Duration of compulsory education in Ireland
Ireland: Duration of compulsory education was 10 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Duration of compulsory education in Ireland, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 10 years for duration of compulsory education in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, duration of compulsory education in Ireland peaked at 10 years in 2000 and was at its lowest, 8 years, in 1998.
That places Ireland 81st out of 200 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 81 Angola 10 years compare
- 81 Andorra 10 years compare
- 81 Burkina Faso 10 years compare
- 81 Central African Republic 10 years compare
- 81 Canada 10 years compare
- 81 Côte d’Ivoire 10 years compare
- 81 Congo 10 years compare
- 81 Cabo Verde 10 years compare
- 81 Cyprus 10 years compare
- 81 Czechia 10 years compare
- 81 Djibouti 10 years compare
- 81 Denmark 10 years compare
- 81 Algeria 10 years compare
- 81 Spain 10 years compare
- 81 Gabon 10 years compare
- 81 Greece 10 years compare
- 81 Iceland 10 years compare
- 81 Jordan 10 years compare
- 81 Kyrgyzstan 10 years compare
- 81 Lebanon 10 years compare
- 81 Saint Lucia 10 years compare
- 81 Macau (China) 10 years compare
- 81 Moldova 10 years compare
- 81 Norway 10 years compare
- 81 New Zealand 10 years compare
- 81 Oman 10 years compare
- 81 Palestinian Authority or West Bank and Gaza Strip 10 years compare
- 81 Romania 10 years compare
- 81 San Marino 10 years compare
- 81 Sweden 10 years compare
- 81 Chad 10 years compare
- 81 Togo 10 years compare
- 81 Viet Nam 10 years compare
More education data for Ireland
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 42,162 (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 2 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 96.5% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0079 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is duration of compulsory education in Ireland?
- Duration of compulsory education in Ireland was 10 years in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest duration of compulsory education recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 10 years in 2000.
- What is the lowest duration of compulsory education recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 8 years in 1998.
- How does Ireland rank for duration of compulsory education?
- Ireland ranks 81st out of 200 countries with data for 2025.
- Is duration of compulsory education rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Duration of compulsory education (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release