Change of mind: students told to check CAO choices ahead of deadline

Leaving Cert students have until this evening to adjust their college course selection ahead of the deadline for the CAO’s “change of mind” facility.

Students who do not wish to change their course selection are still advised to check their course choices to ensure that they are correct.

Registered applicants can log in to their account on cao.ie and add, remove or change the order of their chosen courses. The deadline is at 5.15pm.

CAO communications officer Eileen Keleghan said applicants should remember to place their course choices in genuine order of preference.

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“Every year we experience a surge in last minute amendments to CAO applications. This is due to a number of factors, for example, more time spent researching courses and the introduction of new areas of interest,” she said. “In 2018, 55 per cent of applicants availed of the Change of Mind facility at least once.”

Ms Keleghan said applicants should avoid making changes to their order of preference or course choices based on how they feel they have performed in their examinations.

“If applicants simply follow the golden rule of placing all of their courses in their genuine order of preference they will be offered the course highest up on their preference list that they are deemed entitled to, if any,” she added.

Dates

Leaving Certificate results will be available for collection from 9am on Tuesday, August 13th at schools around the country. The online results service will be available from 10am that day.

Round One CAO college offers will be released two days later on Thursday, August 15th from 2pm. Applicants will have until 5.15pm on August 23rd to register an acceptance of their college offer online.

According to figures supplied by the State Examination Commission (SEC), 56,882 candidates were entered this year for the Leaving Certificate examination. Some 2,774 candidates were entered for the final year examinations in the Applied Leaving Certificate while 64,723 candidates were entered for the Junior Certificate/Cycle examination. Junior Certificate/Cycle results will be issued in late-September.

Just over 73,000 CAO college applications were made this year, up by 1 per cent on last year. While not a definitive indicator, points increases are most likely in subject areas where sharp increases were recorded in applications.

Courses where increases were recorded included those linked to transport (up 100 per cent), humanities (up 41 per cent) and languages (up 20 per cent).

Points decreases are thought to be more likely in courses which saw a sharp decline in applications, such as those linked to theology and classics, which are down 56 per cent, and journalism and information (down 51 per cent).

Candidates have also been advised to register with the SEC’s Candidate Self Service Portal, where they will be able to access online results of any appeals they make along with other services. To register, students will need their candidate number and PIN supplied to them at the end of May, along with an email address and mobile phone number.