Educate Together

What Educate Together does

Educate Together is an Irish registered charity and company limited by guarantee (Charity No. 20033309, Company No. 286202) that serves as the independent patron body for a network of equality-based, multi-denominational schools across Ireland. Founded from the 1975 Dalkey School Project and incorporated in its current legal form in 1998, the organisation now operates 118 schools (97 primary ETNS and 21 second-level ETSS) serving over 42,000 students. Its core offering is the proprietary Learn Together Ethical Education Curriculum — a four-strand programme covering Values and Ethical Perspectives, Equality and Justice, Belief Systems, and An Ethical Approach to the Environment — delivered for half an hour daily as an alternative to religious instruction and supported by a Moodle-based online resource bank of lesson plans, teacher guides, and videos. The organisation has also co-developed the Aitheantas Framework with Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) to certify student teachers in Ethical, Multi-Belief and Values Education, and runs a Global Citizenship Education programme funded by Irish Aid through WorldWise Global Schools.

The organisation's business model blends state grants (covering less than half of operating costs, per direct disclosure), charitable donations from individuals, companies and trusts, and ongoing fundraising campaigns such as One Day Together and monthly donor programmes. New schools are established through community-led parent campaign groups under the Department of Education's patronage framework, with the organisation also supporting reconfiguration of existing schools that wish to transfer patronage to Educate Together. Schools are state-funded, non-fee-paying, co-educational, have no uniforms, and are democratically run. The patron body's national office, based in Dublin (Equity House, 16/17 Upper Ormond Quay), comprises approximately ten staff supporting a network of 142 total employees, governed by a voluntary Board of Directors chaired by Emma Lane-Spollen with CEO Dr. Emer Nowlan leading operations. Technology integration is conventional and operational in nature — Stripe and Sentential for donations, Mailchimp for newsletters, Salesforce for CRM, Jotform for enrolments, and Adobe Connect for webinars — with no proprietary AI/ML capability disclosed.

Name

Educate Together

Legal name

Educate Together

Website

https://educatetogether.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Educate Together is Ireland's equality-based school patron body, operating 118 multi-denominational primary and second-level schools serving over 42,000 students through its proprietary Learn Together Ethical Education curriculum and community-led school establishment model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. State Funding: Voluntary bodies managing schools on behalf of the Department of Education receive state grants, though less than half of operating costs are covered by state aid.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Charitable donations from individuals, companies, and trusts. Monthly donation programme available. One Day Together fundraising campaign. Less than half of operating costs covered by state aid, requiring ongoing fundraising support.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Educate Together serves as the independent school patron body for a network of 118 equality-based, co-educational, state-funded and non-fee-paying primary and second-level schools across Ireland, serving more than 42,000 students. The organization establishes schools, appoints Boards of Management, and directs the equality-based ethos across the network, delivering the proprietary Learn Together Ethical Education Curriculum as an alternative to religious instruction through online resource banks and teacher professional development. Less than half of patron body operating costs are covered by state aid, with the balance funded through charitable donations and fundraising from individuals, companies and trusts.

Product overview

Educate Together operates as a network of over 100 equality-based primary and second-level schools in Ireland, functioning as both a school patron organization and educational programme provider. The core offerings include the School Patronage Service for establishing and managing schools under equality-based, co-educational, child-centred, and democratically-run principles, and the Learn Together Ethical Education Curriculum (a four-strand curriculum covering values, equality & justice, belief systems, and environmental ethics). Supporting products include the Learn Together Resource Bank (Moodle-based online repository), the Student Advisory Group (annual student leadership initiative), Global Citizenship Education Programme (Irish Aid-funded), Aitheantas Framework (teacher certification framework developed with ETBI), Reconfiguration Information Pack (for schools transferring patronage), and School Finder (directory tool). The network is supported by an e-learning platform for teacher CPD.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• School Patronage Service Educate Together serves as the independent school patron for a network of 118 equality-based primary (ETNS) and second-level (ETSS) schools across Ireland, including 97 primary schools and 21 second-level schools. The patronage involves establishing schools, appointing Boards of Management and directing the equality-based, co-educational, child-centred and democratically-run ethos across the network.
• Learn Together Ethical Education Curriculum The ethical education curriculum taught daily across Educate Together primary schools as an alternative to religious instruction. It is organized into four strands (Values and Ethical Perspectives, Equality and Justice, Belief Systems covering world religions and non-theistic views, and An Ethical Approach to the Environment) and is delivered alongside online resource banks, teacher guides, videos and lesson plans via a Moodle-based platform.
• Aitheantas Framework Framework for Recognition of Certification to teach Ethical, Multi-Belief and Values Education (EMBVE), developed jointly over five years by Educate Together and Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) in collaboration with five Higher Education Institutions. It enables student teachers to obtain certification to teach Learn Together and Goodness Me, Goodness You! curricula in multi-denominational school settings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of parents in Educate Together schools prefer multi-denominational education
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Joint development of Aitheantas Framework for Recognition of Certification to teach Ethical, Multi-Belief and Values Education (EMBVE). Five years of collaboration between two patron bodies and five Higher Education Institutions to prepare student teachers for multi-denominational school settings. Framework enables certification for teaching Learn Together and Goodness Me, Goodness You! curricula.
• WorldWise Global Schools (Irish Aid)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Funding support for Student Advisory Group events and Global Citizenship Education programme across the network. Student events funded through Irish Aid support to WorldWise Global Schools.
• Global Action PlanminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Alex Wyatt from Global Action Plan facilitates sessions at student events on topics such as misinformation and disinformation.
• Maynooth UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Academic partnership supporting student-teachers and providing educational expertise to the network.
• Dublin City University (DCU) ChangemakerminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership through DCU Changemaker programme. Rush and Lusk ETNS designated as a Changemaker School.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI): ETBI is the representative body for Ireland's 16 statutory Education and Training Boards, which together act as the largest patron of primary, second-level, and further education schools. ETBI and Educate Together jointly developed the Aitheantas Framework, making them the most direct comparables in Irish school patronage, both running multi-school networks under the Department of Education framework.
• An Forás Pátrúnachta: An Forás Pátrúnachta is the national patron body for Gaelscoileanna (Irish-medium schools) and operates as a multi-school patron with a parallel ethos-based model. It serves a similar structural role to Educate Together: an independent patron supporting parental demand-driven school establishment across the same Irish Department of Education framework.

Emerging players

• National Council for Special Education (NCSE): NCSE supports inclusive education provision in Irish schools, including special classes and autism units that overlap with Educate Together's specialist spaces (e.g., Harcourt Terrace 24-classroom facility with autistic children provision). Both are working within the same Department of Education ecosystem on inclusive schooling.
• Waldorf/Steiner Schools (e.g., Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship): Steiner/Waldorf schools are an international network of independent, child-centred schools operating outside mainstream religious patronage. Like Educate Together, they offer a values-based curriculum alternative and operate networks of schools with shared ethos and proprietary curriculum, often as charities or non-profits.
• Summerhill School (Sudbury model): Summerhill is a long-established democratic, child-centred free school in the UK that shares Educate Together's emphasis on democratic governance, equality-based ethos, and child-centred pedagogy. While operating in a different regulatory environment, it represents a thematic peer in democratic/free school alternatives.

Regional players

• Academy Schools (UK): UK academy schools are state-funded independent schools operating outside local authority control under a similar autonomous patron model. While the UK regulatory regime differs, academies share the structural features of independent patronage, ethos-driven governance, and parental demand-led school establishment that parallel Educate Together's Irish model.

Others

• Humanist Association of Ireland: The Humanist Association of Ireland is a non-theistic advocacy organization that partners with Educate Together staff (e.g., Software Application Manager Aaron Jewell's previous work) and supports the multi-denominational ethos. It is a thematic ally rather than a direct peer, but relevant as an ecosystem partner in Irish non-religious education.

Broad incumbents

• Catholic Primary School Management Association (CPSMA): CPSMA represents the vast majority of Catholic primary school patrons in Ireland, which collectively control 95.1% of primary schools. As the incumbent religious-patronage network, CPSMA is the structural counterpart to Educate Together in the Irish patronage landscape and the primary stakeholder in reconfiguration/patronage transfer debates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EducateTogether
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCHzIh2Y0mW_QzeUhBJRsGOw
• Facebookfacebook.com/EducateTogether
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/educate-together
• Instagraminstagram.com/educate.together

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Educate Together