CAO points calculator — your Leaving Cert points in seconds
Enter your Leaving Cert grades at Higher or Ordinary level and get your CAO points total — best six counted automatically, with the 25 bonus points for Higher Maths applied. Free and no sign-up.
Free to use · No sign-up · Common Points Scale, unchanged since 2017
Add up your Leaving Cert points
Best six results counted automatically, with the Higher Maths bonus applied when it qualifies.
Your CAO points
Best six results from one sitting, exactly as the CAO counts them. The maximum is 625.
Uses the published Common Points Scale, unchanged since 2017. A study-planning aid, not an official CAO service — course cut-offs move every year.
CAO points by grade
The Common Points Scale used by the CAO, in place since the 2017 grading reform. The calculator counts your best six results.
Higher level
- H1
- 100 points
- H2
- 88 points
- H3
- 77 points
- H4
- 66 points
- H5
- 56 points
- H6
- 46 points
- H7
- 37 points
- H8
- 0 points
Ordinary level
- O1
- 56 points
- O2
- 46 points
- O3
- 37 points
- O4
- 28 points
- O5
- 20 points
- O6
- 12 points
- O7
- 0 points
- O8
- 0 points
LCVP Link Modules
- Distinction
- 66 points
- Merit
- 46 points
- Pass
- 28 points
Higher Level Mathematics at H6 or better earns 25 bonus points on top of the grade. The maximum total is 625: six H1s plus the maths bonus.
How CAO points actually work
Every Leaving Cert grade maps to a fixed number of points — an H1 is worth 100, an O1 is worth 56, and the scale steps down from there. The CAO takes your best six results from a single sitting, adds them up, and that number is what course entry is decided on. Nothing else you did in school enters the arithmetic. The scale has been unchanged since the 2017 reform, so points targets from recent years are directly comparable to yours.
The Higher Maths bonus changes real decisions
A H6 or better in Higher Level Mathematics earns 25 bonus points on top of the grade's own value, and the bonus counts whenever maths, with the bonus included, makes your best six. The practical consequence: a H6 in Higher Maths is worth 71 points against 56 for an O1 — the best Ordinary result possible. For most students on the Higher/Ordinary maths fence, holding Higher and securing at least a H6 is the single largest points decision they will make. It is also the one with the most revision leverage, because the bonus rewards a pass-level Higher grade, not a great one.
Best six means your seventh subject is a free option
Only your six highest scores count, so a seventh subject cannot hurt your total — it can only replace a weaker result. That cuts two ways. It gives you insurance if one exam goes wrong, and it means points spent agonising over your weakest subject may be better spent lifting a middle subject one grade band. A H4 to H3 move is 11 points; grinding a likely-H7 up to H6 is 9. Look at where a single grade band costs the least effort for the most points, not just at the subject you find hardest.
Points required is last year's price, not this year's
The points listed for a course are simply where supply met demand in the previous round — they move year to year with applications and places, and a Round 1 cut-off can differ from Round 2. Treat published requirements as a rough target with a margin, not a fixed pass mark. If a course sits near your realistic total, the winning strategy is building a points buffer across your best six, because you cannot control where the cut-off lands — only which side of it you are likely to be on.
The calculator tells you the gap. Revision closes it.
Once you know your predicted total and your target course's recent cut-offs, you know the gap in points — and points move one grade band at a time. That is a revision problem: turning your own notes, past exam papers, and textbook chapters into active recall, subject by subject, on a schedule that covers everything before June. Scholarly does exactly that — upload your own materials and get flashcards, quizzes, and study notes built from them, with citations back to the source.
Keep exploring
Now close the points gap
The calculator gives you the number. These turn your own notes and papers into the grades that change it.
Study schedule generator
Your subjects, real hours, and exam dates turned into a day-by-day plan.
Revision timetable maker
A revision timetable that covers every subject before June.
UCAS points calculator
Applying to the UK as well? Work out your UCAS Tariff points.
PDF to flashcards
Turn your notes and marking schemes into flashcards you can drill.
Revision notes generator
Condense a chapter or class notes into clean revision notes.
Quiz generator
Make practice questions from your own study material.
CAO points questions
How are CAO points calculated?
Each grade maps to fixed points on the Common Points Scale — H1 is 100, H2 is 88, down to H7 at 37, and O1 is 56 down to O6 at 12. Your best six results from one sitting are added together, plus 25 bonus points if you get a H6 or better in Higher Level Maths.
What is the maximum number of CAO points?
625: six H1s at 100 points each, plus the 25-point Higher Maths bonus. Totals above 600 are only possible with the maths bonus.
How does the Higher Maths bonus work?
A grade of H6 or better in Higher Level Mathematics adds 25 points to your maths score. The bonus counts when maths, including the bonus, is one of your best six — the calculator applies that rule automatically.
Do all my subjects count towards CAO points?
Only your best six results count. Taking a seventh subject cannot lower your total — it can only replace a weaker result if it scores higher.
Do LCVP Link Modules earn CAO points?
Yes — a Distinction is worth 66 points, a Merit 46, and a Pass 28, and the result can count as one of your best six in place of a seventh subject. Add it as a row in the calculator to see whether it makes your six.
What are H7 and O7 worth?
A H7 carries 37 points. O7 and O8, and H8, carry zero. A H7 still outscores an O5, which is part of why staying at Higher level can pay even when a high grade looks out of reach.
Are the points for my course the same every year?
No. Course points are cut-offs set by supply and demand each year, not fixed requirements — they move between years and between offer rounds. Use recent years as a target range and aim to build a buffer above it.
Is this calculator official?
No. It uses the published Common Points Scale, which has been unchanged since 2017, but it is a study-planning aid — the CAO and your school are the source of truth for anything decision-critical, including subjects with special scoring arrangements.
Points move one grade band at a time
Scholarly turns your own notes, past papers, and textbook chapters into flashcards, quizzes, and revision notes with citations back to the source — every subject, one workspace.
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