Newly added courses outside of CAO system boost choices for students
New non-CAO course options for students in 2026/27 will include Health and Welfare, Business, Applied Sciences, Arts and ICT fields of study.
More than 30 new course options outside of the CAO system have been introduced for the 2026/2027 academic year.
There will be 78 Tertiary Bachelor’s Degree programmes available to students for the next academic year, an increase of 32.
Late April, higher and further education minister James Lawless announced 32 new tertiary bachelor’s degrees will be open for the upcoming academic year.
For 2026, 1,200 tertiary places will be available outside the traditional points system across dozens of courses in subjects.
Amongst the new options available to learners this year is a new route into Primary Teaching, as well as in Health and Welfare, Business, Applied Sciences, Arts and ICT fields of study, namely Social and Community Development, Digital Business, Nutrition, Food and Business Management, Sustainable Supply Chains and Logistics, Applied Sports Performance and Coach Education, Media Technologies, Networks and System Administration, Software and Technology, Computing with AI, and Agricultural science with further expansion in Nursing provision.
Tertiary degrees offer students the opportunity to begin their studies with local education and training boards (ETBs) before progressing on to the relevant higher education institution.
Those degrees are outside of the CAO points system, and there are no fees while a student is learning in the ETB setting.
The upcoming academic year will be the fourth they will be operating, having initially started with only 13 programmes.
The students will graduate with the same bachelor’s degree qualification as they would have if they entered the university course through any other route.
Ahead of the 2026 course launch, Minister Lawless pointed out these programmes remove longstanding barriers such as points pressure and upfront fee, while upholding the same academic standards and outcomes of any other degree pathway.
“They provide greater flexibility and fairness and recognise that talent and potential exist across every stage and walk of life. I would encourage anyone considering their next step in education, whether they are leaving school or returning later in life, to explore these opportunities,” Mr Lawless said.
Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton TD said the landmark programme represents a transformative step in how we prepare future primary teachers in Ireland.
“By creating a new five-year tertiary pathway, we are opening the doors of teacher education wider than ever before, ensuring that talented and committed individuals, regardless of background, have the opportunity to enter the profession.
“Through our partnership with Tipperary ETB and Limerick and Clare ETB, Mary Immaculate College is proud to lead a national first that not only expands access but strengthens the diversity of our future teaching workforce,” she said.
Meanwhile, over 50 new CAO courses have been introduced this year for students starting college in 2026.
The courses introduced cover areas such as accounting, business, creativity, healthcare, forestry, technology, and zoology – to name a few.
There has been a 198% increase in total mentions of veterinary medicine, as new courses are in high demand.
According to the CAO, by the February 1 deadline, a total of 88,817 applications were received for veterinary medicine – an increase of 5,393 applicants on the previous year.
Data highlights a significant interest in Level 8 agriculture courses, with an increase by 15% to 1,926 applications, compared to 1,668 applications the previous year.
This comes as two new vet schools programmes are now available at South East Technological University (SETU) and Atlantic Technological University (ATU), with an additional 80 places to be created annually.
