College application and entrance requirements

You apply for almost all full-time third-level education undergraduate courses through the Central Applications Office (CAO).

Undergraduate courses in universities and institutes of technology include:

• Higher Certificates (Level 6)
• Ordinary Bachelor degrees (Level 7)
• Honours Bachelor degrees (Level 8)

Find a list of the courses on offer and information on how to apply in the CAO Handbook.

In most cases, you apply to study in third-level institutions through the CAO portal.

Courses outside of the CAO

The tertiary education programme is a new pathway to get a degree. You don’t need to apply through the CAO. Read how to apply on the National Tertiary Office (NTO) website.

You can apply for Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses directly to the individual colleges. You don’t apply through the CAO.

CAO applications for 2026-2027

CAO applications for 2026-2027 opened at midday on 5 November 2025.

The closing date for applications is 5pm on 1 February 2026.

Late applications

Late applications for CAO 2026-2027 open from midday on 5 March 2026. The deadline for late applications is 5pm on 1 May 2026.

You will not be considered for HEAR or DARE, or assessed as a mature student, if you made a late application.

Restricted-application courses

Some courses are ‘restricted-application’ courses.

These courses have early assessment procedures, sometimes as early as February. If you want to apply for such a course, you must include it in your CAO application in time, so that the relevant higher education institution (HEI) can arrange the early assessment.

This means you can’t make a late application. See the CAO’s calendar of restricted-application tests and interviews.

Changing your mind

You can change your course choices online, free of charge, from midday on 5 May 2026, until 5pm on 1 July 2026.

You can also change your course choices from 5 February 2026 until 1 March 2026, but there is a €10 charge.

Available Places

You can apply for certain courses with spaces left over if all offers have been made and there is nobody left on the waiting list. You do this through the Available Places facility.

You can ignore the points published for the course in earlier offer rounds, but you must still meet the minimum entry requirements for the course.

• You can apply for free if you have an existing CAO application.
• You can make a new application for €45 (if you don’t have an existing CAO application).

The opening date for Available Places is not confirmed yet.

Courses in medicine

For courses in medicine, you must take the Health Professions Admissions Test (HPAT). You can find information and important dates on the HPAT-Ireland website.

You can also read about entry programmes to medicine in 2026 on the CAO website.

Key dates for CAO applications 2026-2027

Leaving Cert points

Students who take the Leaving Certificate examination get points for the results they get in their 6 best subjects at a single sitting of the Leaving Certificate.

The points awarded depend on the level of achievement in the subject. You can use the points calculator on qualifax.ie to work out what points you get for any set of results.

The number of entry-level points you need for a course depends on:

• The number of places available, and
• The number of applicants for those places.

The entry level varies from year to year. You get higher points for Higher-Level exam papers than for Ordinary-Level papers.

Some universities may allocate extra bonus points for Higher-Level mathematics.

The CAO publishes the minimum points required for admission to courses as each round of offers is made. You can also check the points required in previous years.

Disability Access Route to Education

If you meet certain criteria, you may qualify for the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) scheme, which aims to improve access to higher education for school-leavers with disabilities.

Higher Education Access Route

If you meet certain criteria, you may qualify for the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) admissions scheme. This scheme allocates a number of third-level places on a reduced points basis to school-leavers from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Specific academic entry requirements

A student must also have the particular academic entry requirements (also called 'matriculation requirements') for the course they want to take.

You can get detailed information about the academic entry requirements from each university, college, or institute.

University sector

Most universities in Ireland are State-funded, but they are generally autonomous. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a private university.

The universities in Ireland are:

• The National University of Ireland (NUI), which is the umbrella university covering University College Dublin (UCD), University of Galway, University College Cork, and National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
• The University of Dublin, which is generally known as Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
• The University of Limerick (UL)
• Dublin City University (DCU)
• RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Technological sector

The technological sector includes technological universities (TUs) and institutes of technology (ITs).

There are 5 technological universities in Ireland:

• Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) – formerly Dublin, Tallaght, and Blanchardstown institutes of technology
• Munster Technological University MTU) – formerly Cork and Tralee institutes of technology
• Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS) – formerly Limerick and Athlone institutes of technology
• Atlantic Technological University (ATU) – formerly Galway-Mayo, Sligo, and Letterkenny institutes of technology.
• South East Technological University (SETU) – formerly Carlow and Waterford institutes of technology.

There are 2 institutes of technology:

• Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dun Laoghaire
• Dundalk Institute of Technology

Colleges of education

Colleges of education provide specialised training for primary school teachers. You must get specific minimum grades for Maths and English. Irish is also an entry requirement, but in some cases, Irish Sign Language (ISL) is accepted as an alternative.

The entry requirements to specialised teacher training are set out by the Department of Education and Youth.

Post-Leaving Certificate Courses

Places on Post-Leaving Certificate courses and the tertiary education programme are not allocated on the basis of points. You should contact the course provider to find out about the entry requirements.

Applying through the CAO

Apply to study at a third-level institution through the CAO portal.

Applying directly to colleges

You should apply directly to the higher education institution (HEI), and not through the CAO, for:

• Postgraduate courses
• Entry to courses at post-initial-year level
• Short duration, one-term, part-time and occasional courses
• Re-admission to Dublin City University, Mary Immaculate College, Trinity College and University of Limerick
• Follow-on courses at the institutes of technology
• Any course not mentioned in the CAO Handbook
• Certain mature applicants
• Graduate or mature applicants to the Royal College of Surgeons

Resident outside the EU

If you are (or have been) resident outside the EU, you may have to apply directly to some HEIs.

Contact the admissions office of the HEI to ask whether you should apply through the CAO or directly to the HEI.

Always check the application procedures for your preferred course, as errors may be difficult or impossible to rectify.

You should make your enquiries well before the closing date of 1 February, preferably not later than early December.