CAO helpdesk: International Bacc

A selection of queries submitted to the CAO/Leaving Cert helpdesk on Friday

My daughter sat her IB exams earlier this year and achieved 33 points. Do you know what this will translate to in CAO points? Thank you

The following is from a document on the CAO website here, and gives some guidelines re teh International Bacc:

Guideline Indicative equivalence with Irish Leaving Certificate points

As a guideline it is anticipated that points will be awarded as follows based on the overall IB score assuming sufficient recognised subjects are presented:

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IB Score - Irish Points

45 - 600

42 - 560

36 - 480

30 - 400

27 - 360

24 - 320

IB points ÷ 45 × 600

(NB only results taken at a single sitting will be included for scoring)

If my son turns down the course he is offered can he reapply for another course once all first offers have been made and accepted?

Afraid not. Your son cannot change his application at this stage. There is one exception to this. The CAO offer a Vacant/Available Place facility. Your son can look at this list of available courses and if he would like to apply for any one of these he can add them to his application after round one. There may be some private college places available also as direct applications outside the CAO system which he could apply for also.

Hi, I would like to view my son’s classics paper, however the dates available are 1,2 or 3 Sept. We are away on holiday abroad that week and wonder can we get a subsequent date?

I’m afraid not. These are the only dates for viewing of scripts offered by the state exams commission. On the booklet given to LC exam candidates these dates are clearly highlighted and candidates are advised to careful booking holidays around these dates. I would suggest you give your son’s school a ring and try to speak to the principal or organising superintendent responsible for viewing scripts in the school.

My sons course DN440 Is not approved by the ACSLM unlike the biomedical science courses in DIT, UCC & CIT & GMIT. Does this mean he won’t be able to work in a hospital lab? Will he struggle with job opportunities because of this?

Yes, this is not a medical science course that trains professional medical scientists who typically work in medical laboratories. However the career opportunities from DN440 are excellent.

Typically, graduates will follow scientific careers in biomedical research, undertaking MSc and PhD higher degrees. They also have a high success rate for entry to Graduate Entry Medicine programmes and pursue opportunities in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as other areas allied to health.

Hi. Is it common for courses to drop or increase 25 points? Son has 510 points but wanted biomedical science in NUIG which was 535 last year. Thank you for your help.

Yes, course points can move considerably both up and down, but in this case I think it is highly unlikely unfortunately that Biomedical Science will drop by 25 points. This remains a very popular course and I feel the points will remain high. The only reason a course like this would drop significantly in points is if the number of places on the course was increased and I’m not aware that this is the case.

Daughter got 535 points, in your opinion will she get radiography ucd which was 530 at random selection last yr

As with other posts, I and even the admissions officers will probably not know for another day or so what the exact points for courses will be in round one. CAO statistics tell us there was no major increase in applicants to courses in the Other Healthcare sector so that is positive but who knows. Having 5 points as a buffer is also positive so I think I would remain positive about your daughters chances.