CAO offers, deadlines and other options

CAO Round 1 offers will be issued to applicants from 2pm on Wednesday, August 28.

Leaving Cert students have had an anxious wait since the results were issued on Friday. 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 minimum points required for 2024 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 3 at 3pm. Further rounds of offers continue up to Round 5 on October 1.

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 2024. 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 may receive an offer of a course that 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 and minimum requirements for a course which then had previously missed out on.

Round 2 offers will be available online from 2pm on September 9. 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 11 at 3pm and the CAO will continue to offer places in the same way up to October 1, when the offer season for 2024 ends.

Applying to Defer a College Place

Students who wish to defer an offer must not accept the offer via the CAO. They must email the Admissions Office of the appropriate Higher Education Institution (HEI) immediately. They must give their name as it appears on their CAO application, quote their CAO application number and the course code of the offer you wish to defer, and set out the reason(s) for the request.

Students must mark ‘DEFERRED ENTRY’ clearly in the email subject line. They should also check the website of the relevant HEI to see if they have a deferral policy available online that they can refer to. The email must arrive in the Admissions Office of the institution at least two days before the ‘Reply Date’ shown on the Offer Notice. The offer of a deferral is completely at the discretion to the Admissions Office of the Higher Education Institution (HEI) in question. Deferrals are not guaranteed and are dealt with on a case by case basis. The HEI will communicate their decision to the student directly. If the deferral is not granted students may then accept the offer for the current year provided the offer is accepted by the ‘Reply Date’.

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. It can often be the case that a student has omitted to record their language exemption as part of their CAO application.

Students will also need to check they have met the minimum entry requirements and the points required for the course in question.

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 that 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 29 at 12pm and applications are open to applicants 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 important for students to realise there are lots of options outside of CAO 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)

Joint tertiary degrees ( www.nto.hea.ie)

Education and training programmes offered by the National Learning Network ( www.rehab.ie/national-learning-network).

Opportunities to study abroad for 2024 are also still an option. Students can apply to study in the UK through UCAS Clearing which remains open until October 21.

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) continue to run their annual helpline for students, parents and guardians, which is staffed by qualified guidance counsellors from Friday, August 23 to Saturday, August 31 on 1800 265 165.

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.

Niamh Dwyer is a Guidance Counsellor in Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, Rathmore, and member of the Kerry Branch of Guidance Counsellors. She is also a Careers Advisor. For details, see www.mycareerplan.ie or follow @mycareerplan on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.