Villiers School is a fee-paying, co-educational boarding and day secondary school in Limerick for students aged 12 to 18, with a Protestant ethos. The school traces its history to 1821, when the will of Hannah Villiers provided for two schools, one for boys and one for girls; the first schools opened in 1827, became co-educational in 1925 and moved to Tivoli House in 1953. According to the school, it had almost 600 students in 2021; today there are 165 boarders, more than 25% of the student body, and the rest live locally. Students and staff come from 52 countries. Villiers is the only boarding school in Ireland where senior students can choose the Irish Leaving Certificate or the IB Diploma Programme; the school was authorised for the IB in 2017. The language of instruction is English, as the IBDP subjects page states directly; international students have English as an Additional Language lessons and preparation for the Cambridge First Certificate. The State partly funds teachers for the Irish curriculum, while the school runs the IB as a fully private programme, so it costs more.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 897–11 523 a year
5 220–10 200 EUR
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Irish, French, German, Spanish, Japanese
About the fees Fees for 2027-2028 depend on the family category. For Irish citizens and families resident in Ireland full-time regardless of citizenship: day pupil Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate 5220 euro, Transition Year 6070 euro, IBDP 10200 euro; 5-day boarding 12750, 13600 and 17800 euro; fortnightly boarding 17800, 18650 and 23000 euro; 7-day boarding 22000, 22850 and 27200 euro. For citizens of the EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK: day pupil 8400, 9250 and 13800 euro, 7-day boarding 24800, 25650 and 30100 euro. For citizens of all other countries: day pupil 10300, 11150 and 15800 euro, 7-day boarding 30500, 31350 and 36000 euro; these fees are paid in full in advance, as a visa requirement. The card shows the day pupil fee for families resident in Ireland full-time: under the school rules a family that has moved to Ireland pays it regardless of citizenship. 7-day boarding is closed for holidays and mid-term breaks. Transition Year fees include an 850 euro TY fee. Guardianship for a student whose family lives overseas costs, by the school's estimate, 2500-3500 euro a year on top of fees.
Admissions Day places in Form I are allocated through the Common Application System of 17 Limerick schools, with the window opening in October and closing in January. Boarding applicants for Form I apply directly to the school online. Transfers into other years depend on available places, most often into Transition Year and Form V; the school reviews academic records, references and a personal statement and holds an informal interview, and the Head of School decides. International students apply online from anywhere in the world, with interviews online or in person, and places are offered throughout the year; some programmes and years may have a waitlist. Students from outside the EU and EEA need an Irish student visa and private health insurance, and every international student must have a nominated guardian in Ireland. Direct entry to the IB Diploma requires at least B2 English and the academic skills needed for IB Mathematics. Protestant families can apply for Secondary Education Committee grants.
Stages and year groups Grades Form I-VI. Junior Cycle - Forms I-III with state exams at the end of Form III; Transition Year - Form IV with Pre-IB modules in English, Mathematics, TOK and the Extended Essay; Forms V-VI - a choice of the Leaving Certificate or the IB Diploma Programme, run in parallel. About 20% of senior students take the IB, around 24 per cohort; the first 5 IB graduates finished in 2020. In the Leaving Certificate Irish (unless exempt), English, Mathematics and a modern language are core, plus three or four choice subjects from 22. IB students may need to study Irish as an additional subject unless exempt.
Address North Circular Road, Limerick, V94 F983
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school; in the senior cycle students choose it or the Irish Leaving Certificate.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
34 (world average 30.88)
Exam results Average IB Diploma score at the school versus the world average: 2026 - 34 and 31, 2025 - 33 and 30, 2024 - 30 and 30, 2023 - 31 and 30, 2022 - 33 and 32, 2021 - 35 and 33. Over seven years 96% of programme graduates achieved the IB Diploma. In the Leaving Certificate on average more than 30% of students score over 500 points; in 2025 graduates received academic excellence scholarships from Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and Munster Technological University.
Where leavers go: Trinity College Dublin · University College Dublin (UCD) · University College Cork (UCC) · University of Limerick · Dublin City University (DCU) · Maynooth University · Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) · Cambridge University · Oxford University · London School of Economics (LSE) · University of Edinburgh · University of St. Andrews
and others, 21 universities in the school's list in allAccording to the school, about 98% of graduates progress to third level education, most to Irish universities through the CAO, and growing numbers abroad through UCAS, UNICAS or direct applications. IB graduates have gone to universities in Malta, Poland, Germany, Australia, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom and China.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Clubs and activities: Hockey · Rugby · Basketball · Soccer · Badminton · Tennis · Running Club · Dance · Science Club · International Club · Book Club · LGBTQIA+ Alliance · European Parliament Ambassador School · Christian Union · Public Speaking and Debating Society · BT Young Scientist Club · Young St. Vincent de Paul (volunteering club) · Choir · Maths Club · Green Schools · Literacy Action Group · Art · Quilting Club · Knitting Club · Craft Club · Filmmakers Club · Drama · Yoga and Sound Relaxation · EAL Club · Gaisce (President's Award) · Model United Nations
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The school's leadership includes the Head of School, deputy heads, the bursar, the admissions manager, the Head of Boarding, the SEN Coordinator, two guidance counsellors and year heads. The IB is led by the IB Coordinator, who is also International Student Director. Boarding has 11 house parents living in the houses and two school nurses; teachers are also involved in the care of boarders.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
✓CCTV
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school publishes a Child Safeguarding Statement and Risk Assessment, the Bí Cineálta anti-bullying policy, an anti-racism policy, a CCTV policy, a wellbeing policy and a guardianship policy for international students. A school nurse is available on weekdays from 8:00 to 19:30, and house parents live in the boarding houses; students can report bullying and discrimination through a Student Sharing Form. Every international student must have a nominated guardian in Ireland.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)82 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Limerick, Ireland · est. 1821 · Private