CAO Points Calculator

Leaving Cert points on the common scale - your best six, with the 25-point Higher Maths bonus counted exactly the way CAO counts it.

Best six of one sittingcommon points scale 2017 · conditional Maths bonus · zero upload

CAO points0

Reach a target

Target points (a course's cutoff)

Private by designGrades go in, points come out, and nothing leaves this browser tab. No account, no upload, no tracking of your results.

How CAO points actually work

Since 2017, each Leaving Certificate subject earns points from its grade on the common points scale - the same percentage bands at both levels, different points. Your CAO score is the sum of your best six results from one sitting; a seventh or eighth subject can only help by displacing a weaker one.

% marks	Higher	Points	Ordinary	Points
90-100	H1	100	O1	56
80-89	H2	88	O2	46
70-79	H3	77	O3	37
60-69	H4	66	O4	28
50-59	H5	56	O5	20
40-49	H6	46	O6	12
30-39	H7	37	O7	0
0-29	H8	0	O8	0

The one genuinely tricky rule is the Higher Maths bonus: 25 extra points for Higher Level Mathematics at H6 or above, counted only if Maths, after adding the bonus, makes your best six. A H6 in Higher Maths is worth 46 + 25 = 71 for the purpose of the six. CAO's own bonus-points document works through cases where Maths enters the six purely because of the bonus - this calculator carries Maths at its bonused value when eligible, which reproduces the rule exactly. LCVP Link Modules (Distinction 66, Merit 46, Pass 28) can stand as one of the six, though not every institution accepts LCVP for entry requirements.

The maximum is 625 - six H1s plus the Maths bonus. Note the scale changed in 2017: anything you read in terms of A1s and B2s with 25-point steps is the old system and does not mix with this one. And when applicants tie on points at a course's cutoff, the remaining places are allocated by random selection - points are the whole academic story.

The primary sources are CAO's own: the points grid, the Common Points Scale and Grading System document, and the bonus-points document with worked examples - every number on this page comes from those three.

Questions this calculator gets asked

How are CAO points calculated?

Your best six results from one sitting of the Leaving Certificate, on the common points scale: H1 = 100 down to H8 = 0 at Higher level, O1 = 56 down to O7/O8 = 0 at Ordinary level. LCVP Link Modules can stand as one of the six (Distinction 66, Merit 46, Pass 28).

Do I get bonus points for Higher Maths?

25 extra points for Higher Level Mathematics at grade H6 or better - and the bonus counts only if Maths, with the bonus added, is among your best six. CAO's own examples include cases where Maths only enters the six because of the bonus.

Is a H7 a pass?

H7 is 30-39% and carries 37 points, and it satisfies entry requirements written as 'O6/H7'. H8 carries 0 points and does not. At Ordinary level, O7 and O8 both carry 0 points but are different results.

What is the maximum number of CAO points?

625: six H1s at 600, plus the 25-point bonus when one of them is Higher Maths. Without Higher Maths the maximum is 600.

Do LCVP Link Modules count for points?

Yes - Distinction 66, Merit 46, Pass 28, usable as one of your six. But not every higher education institution accepts LCVP for its entry requirements, so check the institution's own rules.

What happens when applicants tie on points at a cutoff?

Random selection. When a course's final places fall on a points score shared by more applicants than places, the places among them are allocated at random - there is no further academic tiebreak.

Keep this page

Reading someone else's grades for a job or an admission? How to read a foreign grade