Transitions in the school system

The Irish school system is not seamless. From the time children enter pre-school at the age of three until they complete their formal education, they experience a number of transitions – some more visible and challenging than others. The official designation of the various “levels and sectors” of education – pre-primary, primary, junior cycle second-level, senior cycle second-level, further education and higher education - is not unique to Ireland. A formal classification of different levels and sectors (ISCED 0, 1, 2 etc) has been used by the OECD and the European Commission in recent decades in their publications of international data and statistics.