Clearing Courses Ireland: The 2026 CAO Available Places Guide

Key Takeaways:

• The Irish Equivalent of Clearing: The term “Clearing” is officially a UK concept managed by UCAS. In the Republic of Ireland, the exact equivalent system is called the CAO Available Places facility.
• When It Opens: The Available Places list officially opens in late August, typically the day after Round 1 CAO offers are issued to Leaving Certificate students.
• The Minimum Entry Rule: You can secure a place on a course even if you did not achieve the originally published CAO points. However, you must meet the specific minimum entry requirements (matriculation) for that course.
• Open to New Applicants: You do not need to have applied to the CAO in February to use this facility. New applicants can register directly for the Available Places system for a small fee.
• The UCAS Alternative: Irish students can also use the official UCAS Clearing system in the UK (and Northern Ireland) to secure last-minute seats in British universities, a highly popular backdoor for competitive courses.

Every August, thousands of Leaving Certificate students log into their Central Applications Office (CAO) portals with intense anticipation, hoping to see an offer for their dream university course. But what happens if things do not go to plan? What if you miss your required points, change your mind about your preferred career path, or simply never applied to the CAO in the first place?

In the United Kingdom, students rely on a highly publicized system called “UCAS Clearing” to snap up unallocated university seats at the last minute. Because British media heavily influences the Irish news cycle, guidance counselors and universities are constantly flooded with questions from Irish students asking: “How do I find Clearing courses in Ireland?”

The answer is simple: Ireland does not have “Clearing.” Instead, the CAO operates an almost identical, highly efficient system known as the Available Places facility.

For the 2026 CAO cycle, understanding how the Available Places system operates is the ultimate safety net. It is a live, dynamic marketplace where universities list highly valuable, vacant degree places that must be filled before the academic year begins.

This comprehensive 2026 guide will completely demystify the Irish “Clearing” process. We will explain exactly why courses end up on this list, how to apply (whether you are an existing or new CAO applicant), the strict matriculation rules you must follow, and how Irish students can strategically utilize the UK’s UCAS Clearing system as a backup plan.

1. What are CAO “Available Places” (Irish Clearing)?

The CAO Available Places facility is the official safety net of the Irish higher education system. It is a dedicated portal on the CAO website that goes live immediately after Round 1 offers are issued in late August.

When the CAO computer issues Round 1 offers, it attempts to fill every single seat in every university course in the country. However, this process is never perfectly efficient. Some courses are left with empty seats.

Why do courses end up on the Available Places list?
There is a pervasive myth that only “bad” or “unpopular” courses end up on this list. This is entirely false. Courses enter the Available Places facility for several highly strategic reasons:

1. Brand New Courses: A university may have received government approval to launch a brand-new degree program late in the summer, long after students submitted their original CAO preferences in February. Because nobody knew the course existed, nobody applied for it. The university will place these fresh seats directly onto the Available Places list.
2. Exhausted Waiting Lists: A course might have 50 seats, but only 40 applicants actually met the strict minimum entry requirements (such as a Higher Level Maths pass). The university cannot offer the remaining 10 seats to unqualified candidates, so the waiting list is exhausted, and the remaining seats go to Available Places.
3. High Refusal Rates: In some instances, students receive an offer but choose to decline it (opting for a gap year, a PLC, or a job). If enough students decline their Round 1 offers and there are no eligible applicants left on the CAO backup lists, those seats become vacant.

The courses listed span across Technological Universities, Institutes of Technology, and occasionally, major NUI universities. You can find everything from Level 8 Honours Bachelor Degrees in Engineering and Business to Level 7 ordinary degrees in Culinary Arts and Computing.

2. Who Can Apply for Available Places?

One of the greatest features of the Available Places system is its accessibility. It is open to almost everyone, regardless of whether you engaged with the CAO earlier in the year.

Category A: Existing CAO Applicants
If you applied to the CAO before the February or May deadlines and paid your initial fee, using the Available Places facility is completely free. You simply log into your existing account using your CAO number and password. This is ideal if you received an offer you do not want, or if you received no offer at all.

Category B: Brand New Applicants
If you completely ignored the CAO deadlines during your Leaving Certificate year because you planned to travel, work, or undertake an apprenticeship, but you suddenly change your mind in August, you are not locked out. You can create a brand new CAO application specifically for the Available Places facility by paying a late registration fee (typically around €45).

3. The Golden Rule: Minimum Entry Requirements

The biggest mistake students make when using the Available Places facility is confusing CAO points with university matriculation rules.

When a course drops into Available Places, it means the traditional CAO points threshold (the ranking score) is essentially irrelevant. If the course originally required 400 points in Round 1, but it is now on the Available Places list, a student with 350 points can apply and potentially secure a seat.

However, Minimum Entry Requirements are never waived.

You must still prove you are academically capable of surviving the degree. The universities will strictly enforce their baseline matriculation rules.

• If an Engineering course on the Available Places list requires a Grade H4 in Higher Level Mathematics, and you only achieved an O2 in Ordinary Level Mathematics, the CAO computer will instantly reject your application.
• If an Arts course at an NUI university requires a Third Language (like French or German), and you do not possess one, you cannot be offered the place.

Before you add any course from the Available Places list to your CAO profile, you must treat it like a standard application. Go to the specific university’s prospectus, check the exact entry requirements, and verify that your Leaving Certificate subjects legally qualify you.

4. Step-by-Step Guide: How to Apply

The Available Places process is fast-paced. Once the list goes live on the CAO website in late August, places are offered on a rolling, weekly basis. You cannot afford to hesitate if you see a course you want.

Step 1: Consult the Live List
Go to CAO.ie and navigate to the “Available Places” tab. This list is updated dynamically. As soon as a university fills a course, it will be removed from the website. Check the list daily.

Step 2: Log into ‘My Application’
Access your CAO account. You will see a new button allowing you to ‘Add Level 8 Available Place Course’ or ‘Add Level 7/6 Available Place Course’.

Step 3: Insert the Code Strategically
This is the most critical step. The CAO system still operates on an order of preference.

• You must insert the new Available Place course code higher in your preference list than any offer you have already received.
• If you put the Available Place course at Preference #1, and you are eligible, the CAO will offer it to you in the next round.
• Warning: If you accept an Available Place offer, it permanently cancels and replaces any previous CAO offer you accepted. You cannot hold two seats at the same time.

Step 4: Await the Next Offer Round
Unlike the main CAO timeline which has weeks between rounds, Available Places offers are generated rapidly. If you meet the criteria and the seats are still vacant, you will receive an offer in the subsequent weekly round.

5. The UCAS Clearing Alternative (UK & Northern Ireland)

While the CAO Available Places facility is excellent, the options are geographically limited to the Republic of Ireland. For students desperate to secure highly competitive degrees (such as Physiotherapy, Law, or specialized Engineering), the Irish list might not have what they need.

This is where true “Clearing” comes into play. Irish students can use the UK’s UCAS Clearing system.

UCAS Clearing operates in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland from mid-July until late September. It is a massive, highly efficient marketplace where British universities attempt to fill tens of thousands of vacant seats before their September intake.

Why Irish Students Use UCAS Clearing:

1. Northern Ireland (Queen’s University Belfast & Ulster University): For students living in border counties or those seeking an elite UK degree close to home, universities in Northern Ireland heavily advertise their vacancies through UCAS Clearing.
2. Lower Points Thresholds: The CAO system for clinical and elite STEM courses is notoriously brutal. Many Irish students who miss out on 550+ point courses in Dublin or Cork can find identical, highly respected degrees in England or Scotland through Clearing, often with much more accessible entry requirements.
3. Direct Communication: Unlike the faceless CAO computer algorithm, UCAS Clearing is interactive. You actually pick up the phone, call the admissions department of the UK university, provide your Leaving Certificate grades, and they can offer you a place verbally over the phone in real-time.

How to Execute a UCAS Clearing Application:
If you did not apply to UCAS earlier in the year, you must register on the UCAS Hub and pay the standard application fee. You will be given a “Clearing Number”. You use the UCAS search tool to find courses with vacancies. You then call the universities directly. If they make you a verbal offer, you add their specific institution code to your UCAS profile, and the place is officially yours.

Note regarding fees: Following Brexit, Irish citizens studying in the UK (excluding Northern Ireland and Scotland under specific arrangements) are subject to international or specialized fee structures. Always explicitly confirm the tuition fee status with the UK university before accepting a Clearing offer.

6. The Danger of Panic Buying

The frantic atmosphere of late August causes many students to make impulsive, detrimental decisions. Seeing all your friends secure university places while you have nothing can trigger severe anxiety, leading to “panic buying” a course off the Available Places list simply to have something to do in September.

Do not accept a course you have no genuine interest in.

University is an intense, four-year academic marathon. If you accept a Level 8 degree in Electronic Engineering through Available Places when your true passion is Journalism, you will almost certainly drop out before Christmas. Dropping out of university has massive financial consequences, as you will lose your eligibility for the state’s “Free Fees Initiative” for your first year if you decide to reapply for a different course the following year.

If the Available Places list does not hold a course that aligns with your long-term career goals, the most strategic decision is often to step away from the CAO system entirely for 12 months.

• Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) Courses: Enroll in a one-year QQI Level 5 PLC course. It provides a foundation in your chosen field and can be used to bypass the Leaving Certificate points system entirely for university entry the following year.
• Apprenticeships: Earn a salary while gaining a degree outside of the traditional university lecture hall.
• The Gap Year: Work full-time, save money, and return to the CAO next year with a clear, focused mind.

Finalizing Your August Strategy

The release of the Leaving Certificate results is not the end of the road; it is merely the opening of negotiations. Whether you are leveraging the CAO Available Places facility in Ireland or dialing international numbers for UCAS Clearing in the UK, the late summer presents massive opportunities for proactive students.

To navigate this chaotic period, you must be armed with absolute certainty regarding your academic standing. You must understand exactly how the CAO computer calculated your score and why certain subjects were discarded.

Do not leave your contingency plans to guesswork. Before the Available Places list goes live, you must know your exact numerical standing. Instantly simulate your final Leaving Certificate grades and verify your specific subject eligibility today using the official CAO Points Calculator.