Early Childhood Education and Care points 2026

Early Childhood Education and Care is offered at 8 colleges in Ireland, with entry points that differ widely between them. The CAO files it under welfare.

Lowest entry point

163

across the last 5 years

Highest

348

a spread of 185 points between colleges and years

Movement, 2022 to 2026

-1

broadly unchanged, median of the 3 courses running in both years

Where it is offered, and what it took

Round one points for each college, year by year. A dash means the course did not run that year, or no figure was published. The last column is the change on the previous year the course ran, which for most is 2026 against 2025.

Some colleges appear twice below with the same course name. Where the level differs, one is an honours degree and the other is not, and the points differ accordingly. Where the level is the same, the college teaches on more than one campus and the CAO lists each under its own code, so the code is what tells them apart.

College	Course	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	Change
Atlantic Technological University	Early Childhood Education and Care AU491· Level 6Atlantic Technological University	–	182	187	163	185	+22
Atlantic Technological University	Early Childhood Education and Care AU695· Level 8Atlantic Technological University	–	280	308	303	306	+3
Cork Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care CR620· Level 7Cork Institute of Technology	–	–	–	–	–	–
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care GA864· Level 6Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology	213	–	–	–	–	–
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care GA871· Level 7Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology	164	–	–	–	–	–
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care GA890· Level 8Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology	271	–	–	–	–	–
Limerick Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care LC393· Level 8Limerick Institute of Technology	329	–	–	–	–	–
Limerick Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care LC401· Level 8Limerick Institute of Technology	–	–	–	–	–	–
Limerick Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care LC432· Level 7Limerick Institute of Technology	–	–	–	–	–	–
Limerick Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care LC603· Level 7Limerick Institute of Technology	–	–	–	–	–	–
Limerick Institute of Technology	Early Childhood Education and Care LC613· Level 8Limerick Institute of Technology	–	–	–	–	–	–
Munster Technological University	Early Childhood Education and Care MT571· Level 7Munster Technological University	223	216	223	254	222	-32
Munster Technological University	Early Childhood Education and Care MT971· Level 8Munster Technological University	307	301	306	307	307	0
Munster Technological University	Early Childhood Education and Care MT972· Level 8Munster Technological University	–	–	329	340	348	+8
National College of Ireland (NCI)	Early Childhood Education and Care NC030· Level 8National College of Ireland (NCI)	212	AQA	AQA	228	AQA	+16
Technological University Dublin	Early Childhood Education and Care (Campus Options) TU790· Level 7Technological University Dublin	205	AQA	AQA	AQA	AQA	–
Technological University Dublin	Early Childhood Education and Care (Campus Options) TU989· Level 8Technological University Dublin	260	260	261	262	251	-11
Technological University of the Shannon	Early Childhood Education and Care US780· Level 7Technological University of the Shannon	–	180	196	243	306	+63
Technological University of the Shannon	Early Childhood Education and Care US783· Level 7Technological University of the Shannon	–	–	306	205	273	+68
Technological University of the Shannon	Early Childhood Education and Care US926· Level 8Technological University of the Shannon	–	263	262	251	319	+68
Technological University of the Shannon	Early Childhood Education and Care US927· Level 8Technological University of the Shannon	–	329	298	270	317	+47

# beside a course, an interview, portfolio, audition or test is required. Beside a figure, that assessment is included in the number, which is why it can be above 625. * not everyone on that score was offered a place, so places were drawn at random among applicants on it.

Reading this table

The spread here is 185 points, which is the most useful thing on this page. The same subject is far easier to get into at some colleges than others, so a total that misses one entry on this list can comfortably clear another.

None of these numbers is a threshold. Each is the points of the last applicant offered a place that year, so it describes where the queue was cut rather than a standard the college set. What moves them.