Mark Your Calendar: Key Dates and Deadlines for College Applications
2025 will be a very busy year for Leaving Cert students and their parents/guardians. Although final decisions can be made later in the year, there are important dates and deadlines coming up in the next couple of months. These include application dates & deadlines for CAO, UCAS, HPAT, HEAR and DARE and in many cases the deadlines are final and non-negotiable so it is very important to take note of those which are relevant.
11th January - National Application Information Day for anyone applying to the HEAR (Higher Education Access Route) or DARE (Disability Access Route to Education). Information events are taking place in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) nationwide. See www.accesscollege.ie for details of all events.
17th January – HPAT online registration and payment must be completed by anyone applying for Medicine on https://hpat-ireland.acer.org/
20th January - Deadline for CAO applicants to avail of the discounted fee of €30, applications after this date will cost €45.
29th January – This is the equal consideration deadline for application to UCAS, the system for applying to universities in the UK. See www.ucas.com
1st February – Normal closing date for CAO applications. While changes can be made from May 6th to July 1st to course choices there are some restrictions. Students applying for ‘Restricted’ courses must include them by February 1st. This is also the deadline for any mature applicants (0ver 23) and for anyone applying for HEAR or DARE to apply to CAO. Full details and lots of helpful resources are available on www.cao.ie
1st February – 2025 applications for Joint Tertiary Degrees will open and remain open until September. This is a pathway which is outside of CAO and therefore is not based on points. For more details see – www.nto.hea.ie
1st March – Deadline for applicants to complete the online HEAR and DARE forms through their CAO account. This is also the deadline for mature applicants to complete the relevant extra section of their CAO form.
15th March – HEAR and DARE supporting documentation must have been sent and arrive by post to the CAO Offices.
While these dates and deadlines are very important at this stage, there is no rush to make final decisions about course choices now and there will be time to change your mind as the year goes on. It is also important to remember that there are lots of other pathways open to school leavers and adults outside of CAO (and the deadlines mentioned above) which include PLC (Post Leaving Cert) courses in colleges of further education (FET), traineeships, apprenticeships, study abroad options and supported educational programmes.