St. Kilian's Deutsche Schule Dublin
🇮🇪 Dublin · National / Blended · Ages 4–18
Reviewed by Priscilla Han · 2026-07-24
An established German/Irish bilingual day school offering a dual pathway to the Irish Leaving Certificate alongside German qualifications, with strong senior-cycle outcomes.
Curricula
National, Blended
Age range
4–18
Languages of instruction
English, German
Annual fees
SGD EUR 7,685–8,175
Enrollment
880
Boarding
No (day school)
Accreditations
German School Abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule), Recognised by the Irish Department of Education
Tier Profile
We only tier dimensions backed by a public inspection verdict or verifiable accreditation. Other dimensions show a data flag — never a guessed score.
BrightKey's Assessment
St. Kilian's Deutsche Schule Dublin is a co-educational German/Irish day school in Clonskeagh serving roughly 880 pupils aged 4 to 18, across Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary. It teaches German from the start of Kindergarten and prepares students for the Irish Leaving Certificate as well as German language certification (Sprachdiplom), and it holds recognised German School Abroad status. The community is markedly international, with the school reporting 47 nationalities. No prior German is required to enter Kindergarten, Primary or first-year Secondary, but entry into higher secondary years assumes German at the level of those classes.
Why These Ratings?
Inspection & AccreditationA — Excellent
Recognised by the Irish Department of Education and holds German School Abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule) status. Irish international/private schools are inspected but sit outside a graded public band, so the record is capped at A; no verbatim top graded band is published for this school.
Strengths & Trade-offs
Strengths
- Genuine bilingual German/Irish immersion, with German taught from the beginning of Kindergarten
- Recognised German School Abroad, giving access to German qualifications alongside the Irish curriculum
- Strong published senior-cycle outcomes: the school reports 98%–100% progression to third-level education and a 2025 average of 515 Leaving Certificate points
- Highly international community — the school reports 47 nationalities (about 56% Irish, 13% German, 31% other)
- Open access at entry points: no prior German required for Kindergarten, Primary or first-year Secondary
Trade-offs
- No dedicated EAL / English-as-an-additional-language support programme is published
- Entry into 2nd–5th year Secondary requires prior German at the level of those classes, limiting mid-cycle access
- First-year (7th Class) Secondary admissions for 2026/27 are shown as closed, indicating competitive demand
- No graded public inspection band is published, so external quality cannot be independently ranked
Is It Right For You?
Best For
- ✓Families seeking a bilingual German/Irish education and German qualifications within Ireland
- ✓Internationally mobile German-speaking families relocating to Dublin
- ✓Students entering at Kindergarten, Primary or first-year Secondary who want to build German from scratch
- ✓Families prioritising strong Leaving Certificate progression to university
Not Ideal For
- ✕Families needing structured EAL/English-language support, which is not published
- ✕Students seeking to join upper secondary years without existing German
- ✕Families wanting an IB or Cambridge pathway (neither is offered)
- ✕Families requiring boarding, as the school is day-only
Curriculum
The school follows the Irish national curriculum through to the Leaving Certificate, while running a German curricular stream (Sek-I) and preparing students for the German language certificate (Sprachdiplom). Transition Year is offered. It is categorised here as National/Blended because it combines the Irish state curriculum with German-school provision. Not IB or Cambridge.
Fees
Fees for 2026/2027 (published on the school site): Kindergarten EUR 7,685, Primary School EUR 8,175, Secondary School EUR 7,870, plus a Transition Year supplement of EUR 795. On-time payers receive a family rebate of 10% for two children, 12.5% for three, and 15% for four or more (the rebate does not apply to the Transition Year supplement). A non-refundable EUR 100 administration fee applies to Kindergarten and Primary waiting-list applications.
Admissions
Kindergarten and Primary (Junior Infants–6th Class) applications are accepted at any time via a waiting-list form and require the child's birth certificate plus a non-refundable EUR 100 administration fee. Junior Infants pupils must be 4 by 31 May of the year of entry. First-year Secondary (7th Class) applications for 2026/27 are closed; 8th–11th Year places are allocated under the school's Admission Policy and assume prior German. An Open Day is held each October. Contact: secretary@kilians.com, +353 (0)1 2883323.
Campus Life
Located on Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, the school operates a day model with afterschool care and a distinctive European ethos through its Secondary Eurocampus. It runs a long-standing exchange programme with the Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium in Hamburg, which has operated for over 30 years.
University Placement
School-reported · not independently verified
School-reported, unverified: the school states 98%–100% of students progress to third-level education and reports a 2025 average of 515 Leaving Certificate points. Individual university destinations are not published.
Sources
Every verifiable fact carries a public source — verify it yourself.
- Official website — home · 2026-07
- Our School (facts & figures) · 2026-07
- Admissions & school fees · 2026-07
- School history (Hamburg exchange) · 2026-07
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