CAO issued 3,428 Round Two offers this afternoon. On the points charts published at 4pm, 184 courses came down from their Round One score, 95 held exactly where they were and 10 were reopened to fresh competition. This is every course that moved, taken straight from the official CAO charts.
What CAO issued today
Of the 3,428 offers, 2,507 were Level 8 and 921 were Level 7/6. Among Level 8 recipients, 1,089 (43 per cent) got their first preference. Among Level 7/6 recipients, 736 (80 per cent) did.
1,270 applicants received an offer for the first time this cycle. Everyone else in the round was already holding something from Round One and is now choosing between two courses.
The reply date is 3pm on Wednesday 9 September. Accepting the new offer automatically cancels the offer you accepted in Round One. If you would rather keep what you have, you do nothing at all.
What happened to the points
316 courses appear on the Round Two charts. 289 of them can be compared directly with their Round One score, and of those:
- 184 fell. The average fall was 16.7 points and the median was 9.
- 95 held. Offers went out at exactly the Round One score.
- 10 went up, all of them because the college reopened the course to a new competition rather than because it got harder to get into. More on that below.
15 courses dropped 50 points or more. 49 dropped 20 or more. 80 dropped 10 or more. The rest were single-digit adjustments, which is what most of Round Two normally looks like.
The falls were concentrated in a handful of colleges: Trinity (31), UCD (20), TUS (19), UCC (19), MTU (13), ATU (12). 156 of the 184 falls were Level 8 courses.
The biggest drops
Fashion Design at NCAD is the largest fall of the round at 111 points, from 721 to 610. That is a portfolio course, so the score combines Leaving Cert points with portfolio marks and is not a plain points figure. The largest fall on plain Leaving Cert points is Computing at Griffith College Dublin, which came down 100 points from 244 to 144.
| Course | College | Level | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fashion Design (portfolio) AD211 | National College of Art and Design (NCAD) | L8 | 721 | 610 | -111 |
| Film: Pathfinder Joint International Programme (Ireland) [Portfolio] DL857 | Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT) | L8 | 750 | 650 | -100 |
| Film: Pathfinder Joint International Programme (Belgium) [Portfolio] DL858 | Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT) | L8 | 800 | 700 | -100 |
| Film: Pathfinder Joint International Programme (Portugal) [Portfolio] DL859 | Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT) | L8 | 775 | 675 | -100 |
| Computing GC435 | Griffith College Dublin, Cork & Limerick | L7/6 | 244 | 144 | -100 |
| 3D Animation (portfolio) DL847 | Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT) | L8 | 693 | 607 | -86 |
| Marketing and International Tourism Management DK853 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L8 | 306 | 226 | -80 |
| Professional Social Care Practice SE926 | South East Technological University (SETU) | L7/6 | 193 | 113 | -80 |
| Fashion Design (portfolio) GC494 | Griffith College Dublin, Cork & Limerick | L8 | 358 | 280 | -78 |
| Mathematics and Statistics TU874 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 321 | 245 | -76 |
| Marketing (Digital Marketing) DB518 | Dublin Business School (DBS) | L8 | 261 | 193 | -68 |
| Game Design DL854 | Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT) | L8 | 408 | 348 | -60 |
| Science - Common Entry AU270 | Atlantic Technological University (ATU) | L7/6 | 220 | 161 | -59 |
| Hospitality Management with Business DK851 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L8 | 327 | 273 | -54 |
| Business Information Systems [Blanchardstown] TU913 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 252 | 202 | -50 |
Every course that dropped its points in Round Two
All 184, largest fall first. Scores marked as portfolio, audition or interview courses on the CAO charts are included here but are scored on a different basis, so do not read a 100-point move on a portfolio course the same way you would read one on a plain points course.
Source: CAO points charts for 2026 Level 8 and Level 7/6 courses, published 7 September 2026.
The 10 courses that went up, and why that is not what it looks like
Points do not normally rise between Round One and Round Two. Every one of these ten carries CAO's v marker, which means the course was reopened as a new competition for the remaining places rather than continuing down the Round One order of merit. The Round Two figure is the cut-off for that fresh competition, not evidence that the course got harder.
| Course | College | Level | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science - Bioscience DK781 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L7/6 | 223 | 390 | +167 |
| Electronic Engineering and Engineering Software (General Entry) TU829 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 233 | 385 | +152 |
| Physics with Medical Physics and Bioengineering TU879 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 301 | 445 | +144 |
| Networking Technologies TU716 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | 205 | 326 | +121 |
| International Business and Languages TU965 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 279 | 398 | +119 |
| Science DK883 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L8 | 247 | 364 | +117 |
| Science with Nanotechnology TU855 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 328 | 380 | +52 |
| Education Studies CM010 | Marino Institute of Education | L8 | 316 | 346 | +30 |
| Health Informatics [Blanchardstown] TU848 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 252 | 280 | +28 |
| E-Commerce in Retailing TU924 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | 234 | 254 | +20 |
The 95 courses that held their Round One points
These made Round Two offers at exactly the same score. If you were one point short in Round One on any of these, Round Two did not help.
Courses open to all qualified applicants
26 courses were listed as AQA in Round Two, meaning every applicant who met the minimum entry requirements was offered a place. There is no points cut-off on these at all.
| Course | College | Level | Rd 1 | Rd 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business and Management DK710 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Engineering - Electrical and Electronic Systems DK740 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Event Management DK752 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Sport, Exercise and Enterprise DK763 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Science - Pharmaceutical Science DK783 | Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) | L7/6 | AQA | 378v |
| Finance [Cork] GC213 | Griffith College Dublin, Cork & Limerick | L8 | AQA | AQA |
| Communications GC465 | Griffith College Dublin, Cork & Limerick | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Music (audition) MH103 | Maynooth University | L8 | #AQA | #AQA |
| Marketing Practice NC020 | National College of Ireland (NCI) | L8 | AQA | AQA |
| Data Science NC025 | National College of Ireland (NCI) | L8 | AQA | AQA |
| Early Childhood Education and Care NC030 | National College of Ireland (NCI) | L8 | AQA | AQA |
| Computing NC102 | National College of Ireland (NCI) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Business NC103 | National College of Ireland (NCI) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Data Science NC105 | National College of Ireland (NCI) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Business SE420 | South East Technological University (SETU) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Information Technology SE613 | South East Technological University (SETU) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Information Technology Management SE614 | South East Technological University (SETU) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Early Childhood Education and Practice SE934 | South East Technological University (SETU) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Computing TU652 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | AQA | AQA |
| Process Instrumentation and Automation (Learn and Work) TU722 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | AQA | 281v |
| Baking and Pastry Arts Management TU741 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | AQA | 445v |
| Culinary Arts TU742 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | AQA | 237v |
| Business (General Entry) TU772 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | AQA | 191v |
| Digital Marketing TU782 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | AQA | 260v |
| Business (General Entry) TU787 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L7/6 | AQA | 205v |
| Computing (General Entry) TU859 | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | L8 | AQA | AQA |
The full year-on-year picture, including every course that moved between 2025 and 2026, is in our CAO points 2026 vs 2025 table.
How this compares with Round Two last year
Round Two 2026 moved more than Round Two 2025 did. Last year 250 courses could be compared across the two rounds on plain points and 159 of them fell, with an average fall of 13.7 points and a median of 9. This year 289 courses were comparable and 184 fell, at an average of 16.7.
CAO issued 3,428 offers today against 3,370 in Round Two 2025, so the round was slightly larger as well as slightly more mobile.
What to do before Wednesday at 3pm
- If the new offer is the one you wanted, accept it. That cancels your Round One acceptance automatically. You do not need to contact anyone.
- If you prefer what you already accepted, do nothing. Your existing acceptance stands.
- If this is your first offer, accepting it does not stop you being considered for a higher preference in Round Three, Four or Five. CAO's own advice is worth taking seriously though: most offers have been made by now, and this may be the only one you get.
- If you want to defer, email the admissions office of the college directly with "Deferred Entry" in the subject line, before the reply date.
Round Three offers are available from 10am on Tuesday 15 September, with a reply date of 3pm on Thursday 17 September. Round Four follows on 22 September and Round Five on 29 September. The Available Places facility has almost 150 courses advertised, and CAO will keep issuing offers from it weekly until early October. If nothing came through today, our guide to what happens after Round Two sets out what is still open.
Work out your options properly. CourseCompass has a free CAO points calculator, the full 2026 vs 2025 points table and a course-matching engine covering every Irish course, so you can see what your points actually open up.
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