How many students got 625 points in 2025?

737 candidates — 1.2% of the 60,937 who sat the Leaving Certificate in 2025 — scored the maximum 625 points. 2,388 candidates (3.9%) scored 600 or more.

What are average CAO points?

The median Leaving Cert points score in 2025 was roughly 402 out of 625. Half of all candidates scored above it, half below. In 1997 the median was about 269 out of 600.

What percentile is 500 CAO points?

In 2025, 13,699 of 60,937 candidates (22.5%) scored 500 points or more, so 500 points put you around the 78th percentile of all Leaving Cert candidates.

Have CAO points been inflated?

Yes. The share of candidates scoring 500+ rose from 4.6% in 1997 to 9.9% in 2016 and 22.5% in 2025, peaking at 26.7% in 2021 under COVID-era teacher-assessed grades. State Examinations Commission grading has been unwinding that inflation gradually since 2023.

Where do your points rank?

The CAO publishes how every Leaving Cert candidate scored, each year since 1997. Enter your points to see how many candidates you outscored — this year or any year back to 1997.

Your points

Year

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Enter your points to see your rank.

Points distribution

Number of candidates in each points band. Your band is highlighted.

What it takes

Estimated points needed to place in each slice of the year's candidates.

Estimates interpolated within the CAO's published points bands.

Three decades of points inflation

The same points buy a very different rank depending on the year. In 1997 only 4.6% of candidates scored 500 or more; by 2025 it was 22.5% — peaking at 26.7% under the teacher-assessed grades of 2021.

Share of candidates reaching 400, 500 and 600 points

Before 2017 (dashed line) the maximum was 600 with no Higher Maths bonus; from 2017 it is 625 including the bonus.

Median points by year

Shaded band = middle 50% of candidates (25th–75th percentile).

About this data

Every autumn the CAO publishes Leaving Certificate points statistics: how many candidates scored in each points band, counting each candidate's best six subjects. The numbers above come straight from those official tables, every year from 1997 to 2025. They cover everyone whose Leaving Cert was scored for CAO entry that year — not just the applicants to any one course.

The scale changed in 2017. Up to 2016 the maximum was 600 points and these statistics exclude the Higher Maths bonus. From 2017 the grading bands changed and the maximum became 625, including the 25-point bonus for Higher Maths (H6 or better). Percentiles within a single year are exact either way, but don't compare raw point totals across that boundary — use each year's percentile instead.

Grade inflation is real and visible. The median candidate scored about 269 points in 1997, 348 in 2016 and 402 in 2025. The jump in 2020–21, when grades were teacher-assessed during COVID, pushed the share of 600+ scorers from 1.4% (2019) to 5.7% (2021); the State Examinations Commission has been easing grades back down since 2023. This is why course entry points rose sharply in those years — the course trends mirror this chart.

Percentile estimates interpolate inside the CAO's 10-point bands (50-point bands before 2007), so treat them as accurate to roughly a percentage point. Your points and rank here never leave your browser.