How to read the table

“Automatic” means the college applies the criteria itself. You do nothing beyond sitting the exam and accepting the CAO offer. “Application” means there is a form, a closing date and usually a reference or personal statement. The status column says whether the dates shown are for the 2027 cycle (students sitting the Leaving Cert in June 2027 and starting college in September 2027) or the 2026 cycle (the most recent published round).

One warning on values. Several colleges publish a scholarship but not its cash amount. Where that is the case the table says “not published” rather than guessing. Ask the college’s admissions or sports office directly, and if you get a figure in writing, let us know so we can add it.

Entrance scholarships: what your points can earn without a form

The pattern across the universities is the same. The college ranks its new entrants by Leaving Cert points after the CAO offers go out, and the top of that list gets a letter. The thresholds and the money vary a lot.

Maynooth is the clearest. Its Entrance Scholarship pays €1,000 to every incoming first year who comes in through the CAO with 575 points or more. There is no cap on numbers and no application. Mary Immaculate College in Limerick pays more, €2,000 for first year, but limits it to the top 50 entrants ranked by points, paid in two instalments in November and February. MIC says the award must be taken up in the year the CAO place is offered, so a deferral forfeits it.

Trinity and UCD both work by school rather than by a national threshold. Trinity’s Entrance Exhibition goes to the highest-scoring Trinity entrant from each second-level school, provided that score is at least 500 points including the Maths bonus. If two students from the same school tie at the top, both get it. The prize is modest, a €150 book token and a certificate, though the Trinity Calendar also lists the Reid Entrance Exhibition for Kerry natives of limited means, worth €6,000 a year for two years plus free Commons and a laptop, with an application to the Academic Registry by 9 October of the entry year. UCD’s Entrance Scholars award follows the same top-of-your-school rule with a 500-point floor; UCD’s page describes a scroll, a ceremony and a note on your transcript, and gives no cash value.

UCC and Galway rank within faculties. UCC’s Quercus Entrance Scholarship goes to the top 15 scores in each of its four Colleges, and if more than 15 tie at the top they all get it; 168 were awarded in 2025. The prize is a title, a parchment and a once-off cash sum whose amount UCC does not publish. Galway’s Excellence Scholarship is €1,500 to 40 entrants, 10 per College, allocated by course group, with one of the Arts places reserved for the top entrant to its Irish-medium degrees. When students tie, the money is split: tied winners got €950 each in 2024.

DCU’s Scholars Awards went in January 2026 to students with more than 600 points in the 2025 Leaving Cert, but DCU does not publish the value or the rules on its scholarships pages, so we have left that blank. UL and MTU say their academic awards are course-specific and listed on the course pages. TU Dublin names academic scholarships but publishes no criteria. We found no general points-based entrance award on the ATU or SETU sites. If you are heading to a technological university, check your course page directly and ask admissions.

The two biggest awards: Ad Astra and All Ireland

UCD’s Ad Astra Academic Scholarship is the one points-based award that needs a real application, and it is the only entrance scholarship in the table with its 2027 dates already published. Applications open on 1 February 2027 and close at 23:59 on 23 August 2027, which is after the Leaving Cert results. The bar is six H1s in a single first sitting. You submit a personal statement and a statement of achievement, upload your results before the deadline, and shortlisted candidates are interviewed on 2 September. Up to 15 school leavers are taken each year. The 2026 package was €3,000 a year for the full degree, an academic mentor and allocated on-campus accommodation that the scholar pays for.

The All Ireland Scholarships, funded by J.P. McManus and run with the Department of Education and Youth, are the largest cash award most Leaving Cert students could receive: €6,750 a year for the length of an undergraduate degree, paid by SUSI as €1,500 in October and seven monthly payments of €750. There are 125 a year, with at least two from every county on the island. The scheme’s own criteria page says Republic of Ireland students must attend a non-fee-paying school, sit at least five Leaving Cert subjects at their first attempt, and hold no other scholarship. The site’s criteria page references a medical card; its downloadable information sheet references a SUSI maintenance grant applied for by the SUSI closing date. Read both, and apply to SUSI on time either way. There is no application in the Republic: the Department contacts eligible students after the results. Northern Ireland students do apply, by a published deadline. Winners generally have 500 points or more, though the scheme sets no minimum.

Sports scholarships: the deadlines come early

If your son or daughter plays at inter-county, national or international level, the dates to watch are in the first half of 6th year, not after the exams. Three universities have already published their 2027 windows. UL opens on 4 January 2027 at 8am and closes on 5 March 2027 at 11:59pm; its Gold tier covers the full registration fee and on-campus accommodation, Silver covers half the fee, and Bronze gives a training grant and supports. UCD Sport opens on 1 February 2027 and closes at 11:59pm on 31 March 2027, with late applications refused; values are set case by case. DCU runs from 1 February to 1 May 2027 at 5pm, and separately offers a CAO points concession of up to 25 points to applicants with at least 300 points, considered automatically.

The rest have 2026 dates only. UCC’s window ran from 2 April to 2 September 2026. Trinity closed on 31 August 2026, with a separate €10,000-a-year GAA Football Scholarship for inter-county minor, under-20 or senior starters. Galway’s Elite Sport scheme ran from 14 January to 17 April 2026 and includes a Performance Points route worth 40 extra CAO points. TU Dublin’s ran from 1 February to 1 June 2026. Maynooth’s recurs each year: incoming CAO applicants can apply from November and the deadline is 1 April, with a possible concession of up to 60 points. MTU Cork closed on 24 September 2026 and pays €500 to first years. ATU offers up to €3,000 a year. DkIT’s first-year deadline is 1 June and the range is €500 to €1,500. TUS Midwest says its 2027-28 round is open but gives no closing date. Expect the 2027 windows to follow the same shape, and check the linked page in January.

1916 Bursary and Naughton: application only

The 1916 Bursary is the Higher Education Authority’s main cash award for students from under-represented groups, funded under Strand 2 of the Programme for Access to Higher Education. It is worth €5,000 a year at Tier 1 and €2,000 a year at Tier 2 for the normal length of the course. You must meet three tests: a financial one (qualifying for the SUSI special rate of maintenance grant, or a long-term means-tested social welfare payment), membership of a priority group (which includes students from disadvantaged areas, students with a disability, Travellers and Roma, lone parents, carers, mature students and further education progression students), and first-time entry. The 2026/27 round opened on 3 September 2026 and closed on 9 October 2026 at 5pm. Note the timing. You apply in the first weeks of first year, not before. The 2027/28 round is not yet published; Galway’s scholarship booklet expects it to open in September 2027.

The Naughton Foundation awards 36 scholarships a year to Leaving Cert students entering science, engineering, maths or technology degrees, at least one per county, with a prize for the winner’s school science lab. The Foundation says it favours core STEM subjects over Medicine, Nursing, Veterinary and Physiotherapy. You apply yourself through the online portal, which in 2026 opened on 2 March and closed at midnight on 29 June, before the results; you upload your results and offer afterwards and winners are told by mid-October. The Foundation’s site does not state the amount. University of Galway’s booklet lists it as €6,000 a year for up to four years; we are using that figure with that caveat.

Irish-language scholarships

Most Irish-language support at university level comes as subsidised or reserved accommodation rather than cash. UCD’s Gaeltacht UCD offers 24 residential scholarships to fluent speakers who propose new initiatives, reimbursing a share of accommodation costs; the 2027-28 competition is listed as opening in March 2027. Trinity’s Scéim Chónaithe reserves 12 Trinity Hall places for incoming first years, with the 2026 deadline on 8 June. Maynooth’s scheme has 30 rooms, 10 for first years, at normal rates, with an interview. Galway reserves one Excellence Scholarship for the top entrant to its Irish-medium degrees, and Údarás na Gaeltachta funds two €10,000 bursaries for Irish-speaking graduates on Galway’s MA in Planning and Development, closed for 2026 on 1 September.

Postgraduate and international

Two schemes on hea.ie deserve a mention even though they are not for school leavers. The Government of Ireland International Education Scholarships give 60 non-EU students a €10,000 stipend and a full fee waiver for one year of Master’s or PhD study; the 2026 call closed on 12 March 2026 and the 2027 call is not yet published. Research Ireland’s Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship paid a €25,000 stipend plus fees and expenses, but its 2026 call closed on 23 October 2025 and Maynooth University’s graduate studies page now states that Research Ireland no longer administers the programme and that universities will run replacement calls from 2027. Treat that as unconfirmed until Research Ireland says so itself.

Going the other way, the Fulbright Irish Student Awards for postgraduate study in the United States are open now for 2027-28, closing at 4pm on 29 October 2026. The grant covers living and travel costs, not tuition.

Not scholarships, but money you may be missing

Four schemes are worth more to most families than any entrance award. The SUSI grant is the main State support for fees and maintenance; the 2026/27 round opened in April with a priority date of 9 July 2026, and 2027/28 dates are not yet published. HEAR and DARE, run through accesscollege.ie, offer reduced-points places and supports to students from low-income households and students with disabilities; you must tick the box on your CAO form by 1 February 2027 and complete the forms by 1 March. The Student Assistance Fund is applied for through your college’s access office once you are registered and can cover rent, books, travel, childcare and medical costs, though not fees. And from January 2027 the student contribution falls to €2,350 under Budget 2027, a detail covered in our separate explainer.