Should I Drop to Ordinary Level? A Decision Guide

Dropping a subject to Ordinary Level changes two things you can measure. One is the number of CAO points that subject can earn. The other is the set of college courses that stay open to you. Both can be checked before you decide, and the State Examinations Commission's own rules give you until the morning of the exam to make the call.

You can change level, including on the day of the exam

You sit the level you are entered for. Sixth year candidates confirm their subjects and levels on the Candidate Self Service Portal, the State Examinations Commission's online service for Leaving Cert candidates.

That entry is not the last word. The SEC answers the exam-day question directly in the Leaving Certificate Candidate Information Guide 2026: "as a Leaving Certificate candidate you will continue to have the choice to change levels on the day of the examinations."

Two limits come with that, stated in the same answer:

• If you have already completed a coursework or practical component that is not a common-level component, you must take the written examination at the same level as the component you completed.
• In a subject with two written papers, Paper 2 must be at the same level as the Paper 1 you took.

The conduct rules at the back of the same guide add that a candidate must take all the papers in a subject from one level, and may not be supplied with, or allowed to see, the papers in more than one level in the same subject.

The superintendent is the person the SEC appoints to supervise your examination centre and hand out the papers. The guide states that it is the candidate's responsibility to bring it to the superintendent's attention if they have not been provided with the level of the examination paper for an examination they are due to take. Raise your hand and say which level you want.

Papers are colour coded so you can check what you were given. Leaving Cert Higher Level papers have pink and white covers, Ordinary Level papers blue and white, and Foundation Level papers peach and white. The level is also printed at the bottom of every page.

The SEC republishes this guide each year. Read the current one on examinations.ie before you rely on any of it for your own sitting.

What each grade is worth

These are the points on the CAO Leaving Certificate points grid.

Both levels use the same percentage bands, set out on the CAO's Common Points Scale and Grading System sheet. H1 and O1 are both 90 to 100 per cent, H2 and O2 are both 80 to under 90 per cent, and so on down to H8 and O8 below 30 per cent.

Reading across the two scales, three pairs of grades are worth the same. An O1 and an H5 are both 56 points, an O2 and an H6 are both 46, and an O3 and an H7 are both 37. The percentages behind those pairs differ, so the 56 points that an H5 earns at 50 per cent take 90 per cent at Ordinary Level.

Below that the scales separate. An O4 earns 28 points, an O5 earns 20 and an O6 earns 12, while an H8 earns 0.

The 25 maths bonus points

25 bonus points are awarded for Higher Level Mathematics at H6 and above. CAO adds them to your maths score before the totalling, so an H6 scores 46 plus 25, which is 71.

Your CAO total is the six best scores in a single sitting. The bonus reaches your total only when maths, with the bonus already added, is one of those six. CAO's worked examples show both outcomes. One applicant with an H6 in maths gets no net benefit, because 71 is still outside her six best scores. Another gets a net benefit of 15 points, because the bonus lifts maths above the subject that would otherwise have been sixth. The maximum of 625 points is six H1 grades, worth 600, plus the 25.

Dropping maths to Ordinary Level gives up the bonus, because it is awarded for Higher Level Mathematics only. Ordinary Level maths tops out at 56 points for an O1. Higher Level maths at H6, the lowest grade the bonus reaches, comes to 71.

Course requirements can name a level

Points and minimum entry requirements are two separate tests, and an offer needs both. A course can require a specific grade in a specific subject at a specific level, and a high points total does not substitute for it.

The CAO's Common Points Scale sheet lists general matriculation requirements, the minimum grades a college needs before it will admit you to any course, such as 2 H5 grades and 4 O6/H7 grades. It then directs applicants to the higher education institutions' own websites for course-specific requirements. Which subjects and levels a course names varies from course to course, including within engineering and science.

Look up each course on your list on cao.ie and on the college's page for that exact course. Requirements are set course by course and can change between years, so read the entry for the year you are applying in.

Test the decision with a paper

A marked paper turns the question into a number you can look at.

Sit a recent Ordinary Level paper closed book, with the real time allowance for that paper. Mark it yourself against the official marking scheme, convert your total to a percentage, and read it against the bands above. Then do the same with the Higher Level paper from the same year. You now have two percentages and two grades to compare against what your courses require.

Both levels are free to get. The Leaving Cert maths past papers page lists every year back to 2007, and each year's page carries the Higher and Ordinary papers with their official marking schemes, such as Leaving Cert maths 2025. The other subjects work the same way, for example Leaving Cert Biology, or search any of them from the past paper finder.

One paper is one measurement. Two or three, each dated, tell you whether your mark is moving. There is more on sitting and marking a paper properly in how to study with Leaving Cert past papers. If a specific question falls apart on you and the marking scheme does not explain why, our AI tutor will work through that question with you.

What the decision turns on

Nobody outside your own results can make this call for you.

What your courses require. Write down the minimum entry requirement for every course on your CAO list. A course that names Higher Level in this subject rules out an Ordinary Level grade for that course, whatever your points come to.

Where your marked papers land. Compare your marked percentage at each level against the bands above, and compare the resulting points.

What the subject is costing your other subjects. Points come from your best six. Hours spent on one subject are hours not spent on the other five.

Whether the bonus is live for you. The 25 points only reach your total if Higher Level maths at H6 or above would sit inside your best six.

How reversible the decision is. Within the SEC limits above, you can still change on the day of the examination, so a decision made in October is not the final one.

Bring the marked papers and the written course requirements to your subject teacher and your guidance counsellor. They see your work across the year, which a single paper does not show.

FAQ

Can you change to Ordinary Level on the day of the exam? Yes. The SEC's Leaving Certificate Candidate Information Guide 2026 states that candidates continue to have the choice to change levels on the day of the examinations. If you completed a coursework or practical component that was not common level, the written examination must match that component's level, and Paper 2 must match the level of the Paper 1 you took.

How do I actually change level in the exam hall? Tell the superintendent supervising your centre. The SEC guide puts the responsibility on the candidate to raise it if they have not been given the level of paper they are due to take. Higher Level covers are pink and white, Ordinary Level blue and white.

Do you lose the bonus points if you drop maths to Ordinary Level? Yes. The 25 bonus points are awarded for Higher Level Mathematics at H6 and above, so an Ordinary Level grade does not attract them.

How many points is an O1 worth? 56, the same as an H5. An O2 is 46, the same as an H6, and an O3 is 37, the same as an H7.

Do any courses require Higher Level maths? Some do, and the requirement is set per course. Check the course entry on cao.ie and on the college's own page for that course, for the year you are applying in.

Can I sit Paper 1 at Higher Level and Paper 2 at Ordinary Level? No. The SEC rules require all papers in a subject to be taken at one level, and Paper 2 must be at the same level as your Paper 1.

See the two papers side by side before you decide. Open the Leaving Cert past paper finder, pull the Higher and Ordinary papers for the same year with their marking schemes, and mark them both.