CAO Backdoor Routes: Alternative Ways Into College

A CAO backdoor route is any documented, official way into a college course other than meeting the standard points cut-off, and CourseCompass has now mapped every one of them in a single free tool.

What Backdoor Routes covers

Backdoor Routes, at coursecompass.ie/backdoor-routes, shows students every alternative way into a specific CAO course when their Leaving Cert points fall short. It covers eight entry paths: PLC (QQI/FET) links, mature entry, HEAR and DARE, access and foundation years, ladder progression, advanced entry and transfer, tertiary degrees with no points requirement, and part-time or Springboard+ study. In total it maps 2,499 routes into 1,009 CAO courses, including 216 PLC courses linked to the degrees they open, each one sourced and dated so it can be checked.

What is a PLC to degree link?

It's a documented, reserved pathway from a specific QQI/FET award into a named degree, usually without a CAO points requirement attached. A student doing a PLC can enter their award code directly on coursecompass.ie/backdoor-routes and see exactly which degrees it unlocks, which colleges reserve places for PLC graduates, and what results they need.

Why this matters for schools

CourseCompass research carried out in 2026 with 1,000 Leaving Cert students found that 55% did not know what to put on their CAO form. Most students, and a lot of parents, assume points are the only door into a course. The information on PLC links, mature entry, HEAR/DARE and reserved places already exists, it is just scattered across dozens of individual college websites and handbooks. Backdoor Routes pulls all of it into one searchable place, so a guidance counsellor can point a student there before or after a one-to-one meeting.

Is Backdoor Routes free to use?

Yes, no login required. It's built by CourseCompass, an Irish career guidance and course-matching platform for secondary school students, guidance counsellors and parents, and it's free to link to directly from a school's careers page or a guidance class.