Course Explorer

Find Your Perfect Course

Search and filter every CAO course across all Irish universities and colleges. Click any row for the full breakdown — modules, careers, salary, pathways, and entry requirements.

1,583

Total Courses

30+

Colleges & Unis

0

Favourited

2026

CAO Cycle

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Code Course College Level Points (2025 & 2026) Official
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CAO 2026 — Round 1 Forecast

Will your CAO points be enough in 2026?

A directional predictor based on the 1 February 2026 CAO first-preference data, 2025 Round 1 cutoffs, and the continuing reduction in post-Covid grade inflation.

88,817
CAO applications 2026
+6.5%
Increase on 2025
Level 8 courses covered
20,000+
Holding enhanced grades
How to use this tool

Predictions are bands, not single numbers

CAO points are set by the last applicant offered a place in each course — a process shaped by demand, supply, the grade distribution, and a degree of year-on-year volatility. The honest answer for any course is a range with a confidence level, not a precise number. Read each course's band as “likely to land somewhere in here”, with the central estimate as the most probable value.

Rising

Demand is up in the field and the grade deflation won't offset it. Add a safety option below the central estimate.

Flat

Demand signal is small and gets absorbed by normal volatility. The 2025 cutoff is a reasonable working assumption.

Easing

First preferences dropped or additional places were funded. Points may fall below 2025 level.

The 2026 demand signal

Where students are applying this year

Each field's first-preference change feeds into the model. Large positive moves (health, veterinary, pharmacy, mathematics) put upward pressure on points; negative moves (ICT, agriculture, transport) relieve pressure across the courses they map to.

Field First prefs 2026 Change from 2025 %
Course-by-course

Your 2026 course predictions

Search by course name, CAO code, or institution. Click any row for the full calculation — baseline, demand adjustment, grade deflation, and what's driving the prediction.

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Rising Flat Easing
Code Course Institution 2025 2026 band Conf.
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Methodology

How the predictions are built

Demand adjustment

Each course is mapped to an ISCED narrow field. The field's 2026 first-preference change (published by CAO in March) is multiplied by an elasticity that tapers as points approach the 625 ceiling.

Grade deflation adjustment

2026 Leaving Cert results will be the lowest in six years. Fewer H1s mean cutoffs above 600 points ease by 5–10 points; effect diminishes at lower point levels where demand pressure dominates.

Volatility band

A ±12 to ±35 point range around the central estimate based on the course's historical year-on-year movement. Higher-demand courses have tighter bands; niche courses have wider ones.

Special cases

Courses with combined scoring (Medicine + HPAT, Music Education + audition) hold the non-LC component constant. Random-selection courses from 2025 are flagged — the threshold may hold but the lottery returns.

Important.

Predictions are directional estimates for guidance purposes, not definitive forecasts. Course points depend on the eventual 2026 grade distribution (unknown until August), Change-of-Mind applications (1 July), and exceptional events. Always list courses in genuine order of preference.

Sources: CAO 1 February 2026 applicant statistics · CAO 2025 Round 1 Level 8 points · Brian Mooney, Irish Times. Data version: 17 April 2026. Tool will be updated after the 1 July Change-of-Mind deadline and after 2026 results publication.

© 2026 Angela Curran · MyCareerVerse.ie · All rights reserved.