CAO points drop for half of University of Galway courses in first round
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The University of Galway has seen a drop in CAO points for more than half of its courses examined in a comparison of 2025 and 2026 Round 1 figures.
Of 65 comparable courses examined, 37 recorded lower points than last year, while 24 increased and four were unchanged.
University of Galway said it has made more than 4,000 offers to new undergraduate students for the 2026/27 academic year and expects more than 3,800 students to register to begin their studies.
The university said this followed another year of record levels of applications to the CAO, while some of the university’s best-known courses recorded lower points.
Arts fell 13 points from 350 to 337, Commerce dropped three points to 451 and Law (BCL) dropped 11 points from 520 to 509.
Science moved in the opposite direction, increasing 15 points from 440 to 455, while Medicine remained broadly stable, rising two points to 730.
Medicine entry scores include the HPAT and are not directly comparable with courses based solely on Leaving Certificate points.
There were some much larger movements among individual courses.
One of the biggest falls among the courses examined was in Arts (Child, Youth and Family: Policy and Practice), which dropped 70 points from 409 to 339.
Arts (Mathematics and Education) fell 52 points from 423 to 371, while Commerce International with German dropped 50 points from 517 to 467.
Business Information Systems was down 33 points to 474, while Mental Health Nursing fell 26 points to 403.
There were also substantial increases.
Drama, Theatre and Performance rose 44 points from 360 to 404. Gaeilge agus Léann an Aistriúcháin increased 37 points to 405, Podiatric Medicine was up 32 points to 476 and Energy Systems Engineering rose 23 points to 543.
The picture was also mixed within individual disciplines.
In Science, the GY301 degree rose 15 points to 455, while Physics increased 22 points to 444 and Biotechnology was up 13 points to 511.
Biomedical Science, however, fell 22 points to 544. Pharmacy fell 12 points from 601 to 589 - while the number of places on the five-year programme has increased from 40 last year to 75 this year, which the university said was in response to the need for qualified pharmacists and demand for the career.
In its Round 1 announcement, the university said 25 courses recorded points increases this year, bringing the number of courses with cut-offs above 500 points to 28.
All Engineering programmes remained above 500 points, which the university said reflected the significance of sectors such as medtech in the region and strong career opportunities for graduates.
A new BSc in Zoology has also been introduced for 2026, with a Round 1 cut-off of 473 points and around 40 students expected to enrol in its first intake.
As a new programme, it was not included in the year-on-year comparison.
Professor David Burn, President of University of Galway, congratulated Leaving Certificate students on their results.
“University is a time to learn, to challenge yourself, to make new friends and to discover new opportunities,” he said.
“We look forward to supporting our new students throughout their time with us and providing them with an excellent education and opportunities.”
This year’s CAO offers also come against a backdrop of changes to the adjustments applied to Leaving Certificate results in recent years.
CAO points are influenced by a number of factors, including the number of applicants seeking places on individual courses and the number of places available.