Courses you can get with 500 CAO points 2026
1089 courses closed at or below 500 points in the 2026 round one offers, 796 of them honours degrees, across 28 institutions.
Read that as history rather than as a promise. A course's points are the points of the last applicant who was offered a place, so the number describes where the queue was cut in 2026 and moves every year. What makes it move.
Courses at 500 points
1,089 closed at or below 500 points, and 33 closed within twenty points above it. Points move by more than that from one year to the next, so the ones just short are worth putting on a list rather than writing off. Sort any column, or narrow by level, institution and how close you are.
Showing 1,111 of 1,122 courses
11 courses are hidden, the ones the CAO marks as needing a portfolio, an audition, an interview or a test. Where that assessment is scored and added to the Leaving Certificate total, the figure beside the course is not a points total and cannot be compared with the rest. .
- Random selection
- More people had these points than there were places, so the last places went to a lottery. Having the points did not guarantee an offer.
Showing 60 of 1,111
Work out your own number
If you have not added up your grades yet, the points calculator does it, shows which six subjects counted, and tells you what the maths bonus is worth to you.
Figures are the 2026 round one points published by the CAO, read from its own points lists (opens in a new tab), checked 8 September 2026. Courses assessed partly on a portfolio, audition or test are left out, because their published score is on a different scale and cannot be compared with a points total.