Average CAO points 2026

The median course asked for 339 points in 2026 and the mean was 357, across the 1,237 courses that published a round one figure. Below, the same question answered by year, by level, by subject and by college.

Every figure on this page is counted from the CAO’s own published lists. Courses scored on a portfolio, an audition or the GAMSAT are left out of every average here: those numbers are not on the points scale, and averaging them in is how a page ends up reporting an average no Leaving Certificate could reach.

Median

339

The course in the middle. Half of the 1,237 courses asked for less.

Mean

357

The arithmetic average, 18 points above the median.

Lowest

109

The lowest round one figure published on the points scale.

Highest

625

The highest, which is the ceiling a Leaving Certificate can reach.

Average CAO points by year

The median and the mean for every year the archive holds. The set changes a little each year as courses start and stop, so the counted column is here rather than left implied.

Year	Median	Mean	Courses counted
2026	339	357	1,237
2025	323.5	349	1,242
2024	319	347	1,248
2023	320	345	1,259
2022	320	348	1,273
2021	328	360	1,323
2020	309	337	1,333

Average points by level

This is the split that matters most, and the one a single site wide average hides. An honours degree and a higher certificate are different populations, and a reader holding 300 points is being told about the wrong one when the two are averaged together.

Level 8, honours degree

369

Median of 941 courses, mean 385, running from 184 to 625.

Level 7, ordinary degree

252

Median of 257 courses, mean 271, running from 112 to 625.

Level 6, higher certificate

233

Median of 39 courses, mean 265, running from 109 to 488.

Where the 2026 courses actually sit

An average is one number standing in for 1,237 of them. This is the shape it is standing in for.

600 and over1%12
500 to 59912%145
400 to 49922%266
300 to 39935%428
200 to 29928%344
Under 2003%42

Average points by subject

Subject areas with at least 6 courses carrying a 2026 figure. Below that a median is one or two courses and it swings by fifty points when a single course is renamed, so those are left out rather than published as if they meant something.

Subject	Median	Mean	Range	Courses
Pharmacy	583.5	573	544 to 591	6
Global Business	543	495	240 to 602	7
Commerce	509.5	507	451 to 554	6
Mathematics	499	484	308 to 601	6
Economics	482	477	306 to 625	6
Psychology	481	448	245 to 578	17
Midwifery	473.5	478	449 to 521	6
Engineering	472.5	439	275 to 602	24
Biotechnology	465	434	252 to 511	7
Biomedical Engineering	452.5	460	374 to 555	6
General Nursing	430	417	362 to 463	15
Law	388.5	393	231 to 578	24
Mental Health Nursing	388	366	270 to 412	11
Computer Science	384	400	306 to 519	11
Mechanical Engineering	358	362	200 to 554	19
Civil Engineering	356	345	190 to 521	15
Electrical Engineering	349	339	215 to 477	6
Arts	343	343	208 to 413	21
Agricultural Science	342.5	361	288 to 478	8
Intellectual Disability Nursing	332.5	331	272 to 388	8
Business Information Systems	332	354	225 to 474	6
Architectural Technology	331	336	244 to 455	11
Quantity Surveying	331	338	250 to 466	13
Agriculture	328.5	330	260 to 373	6
Software Development	328.5	330	255 to 420	6
Science	327	345	199 to 540	12
Accounting	314	336	195 to 520	22
Pharmaceutical Science	314	318	228 to 391	6
Electronic Engineering	312	310	209 to 487	11
Finance	311	348	195 to 625	19
Early Childhood Education and Care	306	283	185 to 348	10
Construction Management	305	337	264 to 467	12
Hospitality Management	302	282	210 to 327	7
Marketing	287.5	290	224 to 380	10
Business Studies	271	298	146 to 497	20
Event Management	271	267	189 to 310	9
Business	269.5	284	142 to 565	54
Design	250	262	120 to 400	9
Computing	245	263	168 to 474	13
Culinary Arts	232	228	179 to 306	7

Average points by college

A college’s median says more about what it offers than about the college. An institution running mostly honours degrees in health and business will sit above one running mostly ordinary degrees in trades, and neither figure is a judgement on the teaching.

College	Median	Mean	Range	Courses
Trinity College Dublin	542	523	320 to 625	54
University College Dublin (NUI)	519.5	511	400 to 625	36
University College Cork (NUI)	476	477	300 to 625	53
University of Galway	465	457	337 to 589	64
Dublin City University	457	458	342 to 602	70
Marino Institute of Education	447	422	316 to 503	6
University of Limerick	445	445	317 to 579	51
Mary Immaculate College	402	412	280 to 554	15
Maynooth University	401	403	300 to 500	39
Munster Technological University	341	339	210 to 555	97
Technological University Dublin	329	341	204 to 566	124
Atlantic Technological University	307	313	168 to 544	205
Technological University of the Shannon	297	301	170 to 478	147
South East Technological University	291	295	167 to 544	137
Griffith College	264	258	120 to 321	21
Dundalk Institute of Technology	263	269	165 to 449	59
Dublin Business School	245.5	236	109 to 389	22
Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology	241	273	194 to 408	11

What an average cannot tell you

Points are not a standard anybody sets. A course takes the highest scoring applicants until its places run out, and the published figure is wherever it stopped. So an average describes who applied, not what a course demands, and next year’s figure depends on people who have not applied yet.

The smaller the course, the less its own figure means. Twenty places changing hands on a course with sixty moves the last offer a long way up the list, which is why the biggest risers and fallers in any year are almost always small courses rather than a signal about a subject.

If you are working out where you stand, your own total against a specific course is worth more than any average here. Add up your points, then look the course up and read the years behind it rather than the last one.

Questions people ask

What were the average CAO points in 2026?+

The median was 339 points and the mean was 357, across the 1,237 courses that published a round one points figure in 2026. The median is the course in the middle, so half of all courses asked for less than 339. Courses scored on a portfolio, an audition or the GAMSAT are left out, because those figures are not on the points scale.

Is the average the same as the points I need?+

No, and no average is a target. A course's points are the points of the last applicant offered a place, worked out after the offers go out, so they describe who applied that year rather than a standard set in advance. The average is useful for seeing where most courses sit, not for deciding what any one course will ask for next year.

What is the average points for a level 8 course in 2026?+

Across the 941 level 8 honours degrees with a 2026 figure, the median was 369 points and the mean 385, running from 184 to 625. That is higher than the figure for all courses together, which is why a single site wide average is worth treating carefully: it mixes honours degrees with ordinary degrees and higher certificates.

Have average CAO points gone up over time?+

The median was 323.5 in 2025 and 339 in 2026, a rise of 15.5. Over the whole archive the median has moved between 309 and 339, so the year to year change is small next to how much one course can move on its own.

Why is the mean higher than the median?+

A small number of courses in the 600s pull the mean upward while the median stays where most courses are. In 2026 the gap was 18 points. When a figure is quoted as "the average" without saying which one it is, it is usually the mean, and it usually overstates what the middle of the list looks like.

Earlier years

This page always shows the most recent published season, and the year table above holds every earlier one. Each year also has its own full course list.