Most CAO coverage is about individual courses. The more interesting story this year is about two whole institutions.
We calculated the average points change for every college with at least 15 comparable courses. The spread is remarkable.
| College | Courses compared | Average change | Median change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technological University of the Shannon | 139 | +26.1 | +14 |
| Dundalk Institute of Technology | 48 | +24.7 | +16 |
| Griffith College | 16 | +19.9 | +17 |
| TU Dublin | 114 | +9.1 | +3 |
| Munster Technological University | 95 | +5.8 | +3 |
| University of Limerick | 48 | +3.9 | +4.5 |
| University College Cork | 52 | +3.4 | +1 |
| South East Technological University | 131 | +3.2 | +4 |
| Atlantic Technological University | 200 | +2.3 | 0 |
| Trinity College Dublin | 51 | +0.6 | +1 |
| Dublin City University | 68 | -0.7 | 0 |
| University of Galway | 62 | -4.2 | -7.5 |
| University College Dublin | 35 | -4.5 | -2 |
| Maynooth University | 36 | -10.0 | -9 |
| Dublin Business School | 21 | -15.6 | -3 |
TUS and DkIT did not have a good year in one department. They had a good year in essentially every department.
What a 26-point average actually looks like
At TUS, the rises are spread across engineering, health, social care, business and early years:
- Automation and Robotics, Athlone: +128 (251 → 379)
- Social Care Work, Ennis: +120 (236 → 356)
- Polymer and Mechanical Engineering, Athlone: +111 (302 → 413)
- Mechanical Engineering, Athlone: +110 (278 → 388)
- Robotics and Automation Engineering, Limerick: +89 (301 → 390)
- Mechanical Engineering with Energy, Athlone: +81 (308 → 389)
- Biotechnology, Athlone: +74 (336 → 410)
- Nutrition and Health Science, Athlone: +72 (336 → 408)
- Business Studies (AI for Enterprise), Limerick: +66 (347 → 413)
- Applied Psychology, Athlone: +58 (420 → 478)
At DkIT the pattern is identical in shape:
- Architectural Technology (L8): +110 (221 → 331)
- Quantity Surveying: +97 (234 → 331)
- Building Surveying: +84 (234 → 318)
- Hospitality Management with Business: +84 (243 → 327)
- Early Childhood Education: +84 (243 → 327)
- Digital Marketing and Strategic Communication: +79 (184 → 263)
- Construction Management (L8): +66 (252 → 318)
- Mental Health Nursing: +56 (310 → 366)
- General Nursing: +22 (381 → 403)
At Level 7, DkIT Construction Management went from 120 points to 300, the biggest single rise in the country.
Three things driving it
1. The disciplines these colleges specialise in are the disciplines that boomed. Engineering, construction, robotics, nursing, social care and early years are exactly where 2026 demand went. A university whose portfolio is weighted towards arts, business and computing had a much flatter year, which is precisely what the Maynooth, Galway and UCD numbers show.
2. Cost. Living at or near home is now a first-order factor in course choice, not an afterthought. When a Dublin room costs what it costs, a strong course sixty minutes from home moves up a student's CAO list. That effect compounds: as more local students stay local, the local cut-off rises, which is what we are watching.
3. Small cohorts amplify everything. A regional programme with 25 places moves further on the same shift in demand than a 200-place Dublin degree. Some of these numbers are real trend and some are arithmetic, treat a +180 on a small Level 7 course as a signal, not a measurement.
The other end of the table
Dublin Business School fell 15.6 points on average, with Computing down 154, Global Business down 68 and Audio Production down 45. Maynooth fell 10 points on average across 36 courses. University of Galway fell 4.2, with a median of -7.5, a consistent softening rather than a couple of outliers, including Commerce (International) with German down 50 and Arts (Child, Youth and Family) down 70.
What to do with this
If you are filling a CAO form next year: stop treating regional technological universities as the low-points fallback. On current trends, several TUS and DkIT programmes will be harder to enter in 2027 than comparable courses in Dublin. Put them where you actually want them in your order, not at the bottom as insurance.
If you are a guidance counsellor: the "safety net" advice most schools give is calibrated on institution reputation rather than on last year's cut-offs. This table is the argument for recalibrating it. A student with 300 points was safe at DkIT Construction Management last year and is 180 points short this year.
If you missed out today: the same volatility that pushed these courses up can pull them back. 215 courses fell between Round 1 and the final round last year, with 60 falling 20 points or more. Round 2 is a real second chance and you do not need to do anything to be considered for it.
Regional colleges have quietly become competitive. Your CAO strategy should know that. CourseCompass covers ~850 courses across every Irish provider, not just the ones people talk about, and shows you where each one actually leads. Start with the free CAO points calculator.
Data and verification. 2026 points are the Central Applications Office's own Round 1 lists for Level 8 and Level 7/6 courses (retrieved 26 August 2026, checksum-verified on two separate downloads). 2025 points are the CAO's published 2025 points charts. All 1,395 courses in the 2026 lists are covered, plus 42 courses listed in 2025 that are not offered this year. Every figure quoted in this article was machine-checked against that dataset. Sampled 2026 and 2025 values were independently confirmed against the entry-points lists published by Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and University of Galway, 42 of 42 matched. Year-on-year change is calculated only where a course was scored on the same basis in both years.