CAO: More than 56,000 applicants offered college course place

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

More than 56,000 applicants were given an offer of a college place on Wednesday afternoon.

The Central Applications Office (CAO) issued 83,369 round one offers to a total of 56,571 applicants – split across courses at Level eight or Level 7/6.

These consist of 51,934 Level eight offers and 31,435 Level 7/6 offers, with many applicants receiving offers at both levels.

Some 56 per cent of Level 8 offers are for the applicant’s first preference course, while 83 per cent of Level eight offers are for a course in the applicant’s top three preferences.

Ninety-two percent of Level 7/6 offers are for the applicant’s first preference course while 99 per cent are one of their top three preferences.

First round offers must be accepted by 3pm on Tuesday, while second round offers will be available at 2pm on September 9th.

There were a total of 83,543 applicants to the CAO this year, including 7,365 mature applicants.

It means 67.7 per cent of all applicants were offered some course in the first round of offers.