'It's across the board': From digital devices to books to uniforms, parents count cost of back to school
Parents can still expect to pay an average €1,607 across the school year for a primary school child, and €2,142 across the school year for a student at second-level. File picture: PA
Over €160m of taxpayer money will be spent on schoolbooks this year to help ease the financial burden on families facing into a new school year.
First piloted in a small number of disadvantaged schools in 2020, the free schoolbooks scheme has since expanded nationwide and now covers around 1m primary and post-primary students.
“When we saw the free schoolbooks first announced at primary school, we saw a decrease in our calls,” said Niamh Dalziel, research and policy officer with the St Vincent de Paul social justice team.
“The same thing happened again the following year with Junior Cert, and again with Leaving Cert.”
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The SVP charity regularly receives calls from families across Ireland struggling to meet the costs of their child’s education.
“It’s across the board,” said Ms Dalziel. “The make-up of people who come to us is varied. We’re in all communities in Ireland, this isn’t a problem just in one area.”
SVP campaigned strongly for the introduction of free schoolbooks, she said.
“We saw the impact [the cost] was having on families. Good policy really does make a difference.”
Before the scheme was rolled out nationally, parents of post-primary students faced average annual schoolbook costs of around €210, a significant expense in a country where education is often described as free.
While the policy’s introduction has been broadly welcomed, it’s impact has been somewhat “off-set” as the financial pressure on families changed rather than disappeared.
Families face a wide mix of school-related expenses spread across the year, making their overall costs harder to plan for and absorb.
David Malone, chief executive of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), said it has noticed these changing school costs through its annual survey of parents.
This year, for the first time, it asked parents about their upfront back-to-school costs as well as the regular running costs they expect to face throughout the school year.
It marked a small decrease in upfront back-to-school costs but found parents can still expect to pay an average €1,607 across the school year for a primary school child, and €2,142 across the school year for a student at second-level.
The introduction of free schoolbooks has had "a good impact" on the costs families typically face at this time of year, he said. “But they’ve been off-set by digital devices, required particularly in secondary school.”
Approximately half of the parents of post primary school students that took part in the ILCU survey for 2026 said their child’s school requires a mandatory digital device.
“Although the Government’s policy has been helpful in terms of the schoolbooks, arguably the way that education is now being provided in schools has migrated more away from books and more towards tablets and iPads,” said Mr Malone.
Uniforms also remain a large expense. Six out of ten parents told the ILCU they felt pressured to buy branded clothing. Just 16% were able to buy a second-hand uniform, and 43% were able to get a lower-cost uniform, such as generic kits sold in supermarkets.
One parent told the ILCU they had to purchase a €300 branded PE kit for their child.
“To be fair, the Department of Education did issue policy advice to schools on this a couple of years ago to say they were advocating for generic uniforms where you can sew on your crest.”
There is work ongoing in this area but progress is slow. A spokesperson for the Department of Education confirmed it is working on a revised circular for schools that will place a stronger emphasis on reducing costs for parents.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has also written to schools, both in 2025 and 2026, recommending a move away from branded uniforms and “bespoke” back-to-school items, while also ensuring a competitive process underpins the appointment of any exclusive suppliers for school uniforms and tech devices.
"Our work here is an awareness piece," said Muriel Dolan, deputy director of financial education with the CCPC. "To make schools aware that it should be a competitive process. They should really take into consideration what burden of costs they are putting on to parents if they are saying, 'You can only go to one supplier'.
"When you give parents the opportunity to go to different suppliers, then they have the opportunity to shop around, they can get cheaper prices."
When it comes to digital devices, it's up to schools and the Department of Education to decide whether they are needed, said Ms Dolan.
Schools should look at the procurement frameworks brought in by the Department of Education. "We would encourage schools to use that, where they don't it should be a competitive process where they are procuring these types of services, and always bringing it back to the costs on parents for these devices."
Ms Dalziel from SVP agrees with the ILCU that school-related expenses are changing. She said this is evidenced by the calls it receives.
The charity is calling for more support for students to meet the costs of transition year.
“It’s such a positive thing, and we believe all students should be able to access it," said Ms Dalziel.
"Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to take part, and where they are offered it, the costs can be huge, and can be the reason why parents don’t send their children to TY, not because they don’t see the benefit but weighing up that cost, it’s a lot.”
Research commissioned by SVP found that costs for the year ranged between €320 to €470, excluding the traditional TY trip that many schools take. “That’s just the costs to participate in the programme.”
Another pressure point in the school year can be mock/pre-exam fees. "These exams are not run by the State, they are run by the school, therefore parents have to fund that. Usually it's December, January when they’ll be asked for the money, but it depends.
“It’s a really unseen amount. We talk a lot about back-to-school but that bill coming in December, January, it can come in as late as Easter. We want to see people who are entitled to the medical card exempt from mock-exam correction fees exempt from those fees, as they are for the State exams.”
Ms Dalziel also points to the general underfunding of schools. "It's why we have things like voluntary contributions because schools are just trying to figure out how to get enough money to run.”
Schools costs have gone up, but capitation hasn’t kept pace, she said. “They should be focused on a child’s education, not fundraising.”
Mandated digital devices are also another big cost for parents contacting SVP. "We are seeing more and more requests coming in for that, and amounts can be very high. Parents are either expected to pay that cost upfront at the beginning of the year, or they can pay throughout the year monthly.”
Ms Dalziel added: “Often when there’s a monthly payment, you pay in instalments because you can’t afford that upfront cost, but you can end up paying more.
"That would be what we call a poverty premium, where people who can’t afford that upfront cost are expected to pay more, their bill will be higher in the end.”
Ann Marcus-Quinn from the University of Limerick worked on the first major review of the digital device programmes in place in schools, with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
A working paper highlighting this research, published earlier this summer, had a stark warning: Without strategic intervention, the expansion of digital learning, particularly in light of new Leaving Cert reforms, risks deepening existing inequalities within the education system.
It documented how compulsory one-to-one device purchase and use has become “increasingly embedded” within Irish post-primary schooling. Approximately 30% of more than 720 post-primary schools had either mandatory or “strongly structured” device purchasing arrangements in place for students, it found.
Common devices included Chromebooks, iPads, Windows laptops, and hybrid touchscreen devices, with some packages approaching or exceeding €700 in some cases.
Ms Marcus-Quinn believes the 30% is likely to be an underestimate of how widespread mandated devices have become. “There seems to be very little consultation with the parents, who ultimately have to pay for whatever device it is," she said.
It's important to remember school principals are under pressure, she said. "Because it's almost impossible to keep a computer lab in the school up to date and maintained."
But the reality is that parents are being told to get high-spec devices for first-year students. “It shouldn’t just be a one-size fits all, especially when they are looking at mandating the higher-end devices, and you are also punishing parents that have been quite savvy with the household budget.
"In some cases, that information will arrive after they’ve applied to the school," said Ms Marcus-Quinn.
"In one household, €800 won’t cost them a thought, but in another that is a huge expense. The idea of not being able to buy a refurbished machine is crazy, that you can’t buy a second-hand device, or that siblings can’t share. That just seems very, very wasteful.”
When she first turned her attention to this area, there wasn’t as many schools mandating devices. "It seemed to shoot up very quickly, as soon as the [new Leaving Cert] additional assessment components were being talked about.
"That really took hold at the beginning of this academic year. As soon as there was talk about AACs, people felt they are not fully equipped to do them unless they have access to a device on demand.”
Ms Marcus-Quinn added: "At the end of the day, we need the department to step in and actually spec the device, not the private companies coming in and saying, ‘I’ve looked at the specs of AACs, and I’ve looked at specs at Junior Cycle and this is what we think you need.’
"That is not appropriate. There needs to be some minimum standard and that needs to be determined by the department, not a for-profit agency.”
Ms Marcus-Quinn said she fears that mandated devices could take also off at primary level. "It's not there at the moment, but who's to stop it happening?
"At the moment, I don’t think there’s anything there to stop it. If it went unchallenged at second-level, I think you could see it creeping in.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said there is no department requirement for students to purchase or own a personal digital device.
She said education minister Hildegarde Naughton wrote to schools asking them "to fully consider the views of all parents and guardians, as well as cost and equity implications, before introducing any approach involving digital devices".
The spokesperson said: "Where digital technologies are used as part of teaching and learning, schools are expected to ensure that no child is disadvantaged due to lack of access."
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