The day is finally here, CAO round one offers are out and many of you now know what you will be doing in the coming months.
Some 90,866 round one offers were released to students at 2pm today. These offers consist of 56,618 Level 8 course offers and 34,248 Level 6/7 course offers.
Sources had indicated that points would fall for information and communication technology (ICT) programmes this year, with a smaller decrease for agriculture and primary teaching.
This has been borne out.
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Applications for veterinary medicine, physiotherapy and medicine all increased this year, as well as in the fields of engineering and architecture.
For this reason we were not expecting to see any points drop across these areas. A quick look at some of the colleges offering these courses shows this to be true.
Many of you may be feeling disappointed today, maybe even apathetic, or feel that a lot of this chatter does not encapsulate your experience. A coalition of education activists articulated this at a press conference ahead of the offers coming out. They said the CAO points system had a “pressure cooker effect” on young learners and needed to be reformed.
Many young people will not feel a sense of achievement and excitement today, they argue, and instead will have “a stomach-curling dread,” Tanya Ward of the Children’s Rights Alliance said. “Maintaining an archaic and anxiety-inducing system to preserve the prestige of university league tables and a hierarchy of professions flies in the face of what our education system should be about.
“The Government promised this review when entering office, and now, as we approach halfway of that term and a new school year, we want to see some follow-through,” Ward said.
Alongside the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU), the National Parents’ Union, the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) and the National Association for Principals & Deputy Principals (NAPD), they called for reform of the system.
If you feel a similar sentiment, or are disappointed not to get the offer you wanted, please contact me at niamh.towey@irishtimes.com.
And check out Thursday’s Irish Times, which will include a special supplement, First Round Offers 2026, with news and analysis of CAO trends, course demand and points movements, alongside practical advice on accepting offers, navigating subsequent rounds and exploring alternative pathways. We will have insights from education experts and students, as well as the all-important tables detailing level six, seven and eight bachelor’s degree courses and points.
Find comprehensive education coverage at irishtimes.com/education, including our CAO Help Desk, running Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week.
