Welcome to The Irish Times CAO Helpdesk for 2025. Using the form below, you can submit any questions you have about this year’s process, from points and Leaving Cert results, to appeals, deferrals and more.
Our education experts Deirdre Garrett and Brian Howard will be on hand from 12pm on Friday to give you quick and clear feedback as you navigate college offers, choices and deciding your next steps over the coming days.
You can follow our live coverage of today’s Leaving Cert results here: Grades deflate as number of H1 grades awarded falls.
Q: How do we appeal a subject grade? - Isabelle
A: All the details regarding appealing subject grades can be found in the Candidate Information Guide. Applications for appeals are completed online in the Candidate Self Service Portal. Applications open 10 AM Sunday 31 August at 10am and close Monday 1 September at 5pm. - Brian
Q: We are getting one subject checked. If the grade increases my daughter would most likely have the points for her first choice on CAO. Should we accept her second choice next week and hope that she gets first choice in second round offer? - Alli
A: Absolutely. Make decisions next week as if your daughter is not going to get any further offers in the future. Then if she does get a higher offer it is a bonus, but at least she already has something. - Brian
Q: Is there a back door route for the Science Education Course in UCC? - Orla
A: There are a quota of places for QQI PLC graduates for this course. Details are at this link: https://www.cao.ie/index.php?page=fetac_search - Brian
Q: If my son’s mark in a subject increases after an appeal and gets him to the points required for a course he applied for, will a place on that course be made available for him? - Dave
A: This very much depends on the college in question. In most instances the college will try to facilitate the upgraded student with a place after the final round of upgrades but in the event that they can’t a deferred place for the following year will be made. - Brian
Q: Will there be more primary places in DCU? - Jordan.
A: The only way to know this definitively is to email admissions in DCU and get an answer from them. - Brian
