Music
BMus · 3 yrs
HL 5 in two subjects and SL 4 in four more, including English and a third language; a video audition at Grade…
Maynooth · Ireland · Research university
Campus university in the town of Maynooth, west of Dublin; broad Arts and Science degrees let you start with several subjects and narrow down later.
1 February 2027, 17:00 Irish time
The last day to apply at the normal fee, and the last day to apply at all for restricted courses such as medicine. A late window, 5 March to 1 May at €65, takes other courses only, and an institution may refuse a late application.
CAO publishes this as "1st February (17:00) - Normal closing date for applications". Confirmed for 2027 entry by the CAO Handbook 2027 (Timetable of Events and Table 1.1); on 24 September 2026 the Timetable of Events web page still showed the 2026 cycle. The fee at this point is 50 EUR. Restricted-entry courses - those with a test, interview, portfolio or audition, including undergraduate medicine - must be on your course choices list by now, with one narrow escape: the handbook allows them to be "added to your application using the facility to amend course choices (for a fee of 10) before 1 March at 5pm". They cannot be introduced during the free Change of Mind window in May and June, except where a restricted course shares the exact same assessment procedures as one you already listed. The CAO Handbook also advises applying online before this date and time if you need to sit HPAT or GAMSAT.
Source1 July 2027, 17:00 Irish time
The last chance to change what you are applying for, five days before IB results. The list you hold on this date is the list that is scored.
CAO publishes this as "1st July (17:00) - Change of Mind closes". Confirmed for 2027 entry by the CAO Handbook 2027 (Timetable of Events and Table 1.1); on 24 September 2026 the Timetable of Events web page still showed the 2026 cycle. This is the date the whole Irish system turns on, because offers follow your stated order of preference exactly and this is the last moment you can change it. It closes a few days before IB results are released in early July, so the order you submit is an order you choose without knowing your score. Decide it against your predicted grades and against last year’s points for each course, not against a result you do not have yet.
Source5 November 2026, 12:00 Irish time
Published twice: the last line of the CAO Timetable of Events reads "5th November 2026 - CAO application facility opens for 2027 applications", and the CAO Handbook 2027 gives "CAO online application facility opens on 5 November at 12:00 noon". Nothing can be submitted before midday.
Source20 January 2027, 17:00 Irish time
Applying after this costs more. Not a barrier, and a needless cost.
The discounted online fee ends at 17:00 (CAO Handbook 2027, Timetable of Events and Table 1.1). Missing it costs 15 EUR, not your place: you can still apply at the normal 50 EUR until 1 February. The fee ladder is in Table 1.1 of the CAO Handbook 2027 and is the part most often got wrong: early online (discounted) 35 EUR by 20 January, normal online 50 EUR by 1 February, late online 65 EUR by 1 May, Change of Mind nil. Amending your course choices between 5 February and 1 March costs a further 10 EUR. Application fees are non-refundable and CAO states that no extension to any closing date is allowed.
Source5 May 2027, 12:00 Irish time*
Free, and it lets you rewrite the list entirely — which is why the 1 February deadline is less frightening than it looks. CAO Handbook 2027 gives 5 May at 12:00 as the "expected date".
CAO publishes this as "5th May (12:00) - Online Change of Mind facility becomes available (Free)". The CAO Handbook 2027 gives this day and time but marks it "(expected date)", so treat it as provisional. You may use it as many times as you like to introduce, remove or reorder courses, but each Change of Mind "cancels and supersedes all previous course choices in any category in which changes are made", so the list you leave behind is the list that is read. Restricted-entry courses cannot be introduced here.
Source6 July 2027*
After Change of Mind has closed. An IB applicant straight from school competes in Round One, with Irish school leavers.
Source* Last year’s date, not yet confirmed.
Every degree here is taught in English. What it is known for:
BMus · 3 yrs
HL 5 in two subjects and SL 4 in four more, including English and a third language; a video audition at Grade…
BE · 4 yrs
HL Maths 5, SL 4 in English and a science or technology subject, and HL 5 in two subjects in all.
BSc · 4 yrs
Maths SL 5 or HL 3 and a lab science at SL 4, with HL 5 in two subjects in all.
Six subjects with English; Arts and Music add a third language, Business and Science Maths (SL 5 or HL 3). Strictest: Engineering HL Maths 5 plus a science; Music a video audition at grade 6 standard.
Irish is part of the NUI entry rule, but if you were not born or schooled in Ireland you qualify for an exemption, and Maynooth says only applicants from the…