CAO offers, acceptances & alternatives
CAO Round 1 offers will be issued to applicants on Wednesday, August the 30th, from 2pm. Applicants will be able to check their offer(s) by logging into the ‘My Applications’ section of www.cao.ie using their CAO number, date of birth and account password. Offers will also be issued by email and SMS text. Applicants who are not receiving an offer will receive a ‘Statement of Application’ email. The cut-off points for 2023 will also be published by CAO on their website once the offers are issued. Many students will receive two offers, one from their level 8 list (Honours Bachelor Degrees) and one from level 7/6 (Ordinary Bachelor Degrees and Higher Certificates) and have the option to accept one offer only. Students have the option to accept, decline or apply to defer the offer they receive before the acceptance deadline for Round 1 which is on September 5th at 3pm. Further rounds of offers continue until all CAO places are filled.
Consider CAO offers carefully
Applicants should carefully consider the offer(s) they receive in Round 1, as they may not get another offer in later rounds. They will receive an offer of the highest course on their preference lists (Level 8 and Levels 7/6) for which they have the minimum requirements and the cut-off CAO points for 2023. This could be anywhere from 1-10 on their order of preference. Applicants will never receive an offer of a course that is lower down on their preference list. It is possible (but not guaranteed) that some applicants may receive an offer of a course which is higher up on their preference list in subsequent rounds. This happens if the points for their chosen courses drop when not all those offered places in Round 1 take them up. It can also happen in Round 5 if a student who appeals a Leaving Cert result is successful, receives an upgrade and then meets the required points for a course which then had previously missed out on.
Round 2 offers will be available online from 2pm on September 11th. Students are entitled to be offered a place that becomes available higher up on their order of preference if they have the points and entry requirements. Whether students have accepted a place on another course in Round 1 is irrelevant, they will be offered the new place anyway. Applicants then have the choice to accept their round 2 offer or to stick with the Round 1 offer. The closing date for acceptance of Round 2 offers is September 13th at 3pm and the CAO will continue to offer places in the same way up to early October when the offer season for 2023 ends.
Applying to defer a college place
Students who wish to defer an offer must not accept the offer via the CAO. The offer of a deferral is completely at the discretion to the Admissions Office of the Higher Education Institution (HEI) in question. They are not guaranteed and are dealt with on a case by case basis. Students who wish to apply to defer a course must check the deferral application process for the particular HEI and follow it. Details on how to defer a course can be found on www.cao.ie, however all communications about deferrals must be sent to the relevant Admissions Office, not to CAO.
What to do if no CAO offer is received
Students who do not receive a CAO offer will get a Statement of Application email so the first thing to do is to check the detail of this and follow the instructions. It may be the case that corrections need to be made to the examination, exemption or account information so the advice is to contact the CAO immediately via the Correspondence section of their CAO account. Students will also need to check that they have met the minimum entry requirements and the points required for the course in questions. Details on minimum entry requirements can be found on the individual HEI websites and the cut-off points will be available on the CAO website. If after this the student doesn’t get an offer, there is no need to panic as there are lots of options still open.
Second-chance Maths exam
Some HEIs offer students who have not received the required minimum grade in Maths for their chosen course, the opportunity to sit an alternative Maths exam. These exams usually take place in the week after the Leaving Cert results are issued. Details of the HEIs which run these exams can be found in the ‘Important Dates’ section of the CAO website and information on specific dates, exam structure and links to apply are available on the individual HEI websites.
Available Places on CAO
The ‘Available Places’ facility opens on CAO on August 31th at 12pm and applications are open to applicants who are already in the CAO system and to candidates who have not already submitted a CAO application this year but who now wish to apply. Applicants must meet the minimum entry requirements for the courses for which they wish to apply. Further details can be found on www.cao.ie
Options outside of CAO
While much attention focuses on CAO around the Offer stages it is very important for students to realise that there are lots of options outside of CAO which are still open for application. This include Post Leaving Cert (PLC) courses in Further Education (www.fetchcourses.ie), apprenticeships (www.apprenticeship.ie), traineeships (www.solas.ie), tertiary education programmes (www.nto.hea.ie) and supported education and training programmes offered by the National Learning Network (www.rehab.ie/national-learning-network). Opportunities to study abroad for 2023 are also still an option. Students can apply to study in the UK through UCAS Clearing which remains open until October 17th. For opportunities to study through English in European universities for the coming academic year see www.eunicas.ie and www.medicalpoland.ie. Many students opt to take a year out and work before taking the next step and of course there is the option to repeat the Leaving Cert for those who feel they can perform better second time around.
Helpline
The National Parents Council Post Primary (NPCPP) will also be running their annual helpline for students, parents and guardians, which is supported by qualified guidance counsellors from Friday, August 25th to Saturday, September 2nd. Contact the Freephone number on 1800 265 165 with your queries.
Above all else Leaving Cert students need to remember that their opportunities are endless, their options are varied and their potential is boundless. There is not just one linear pathway for everyone but multiple routes and possibilities.