Thousands to accept CAO offer by deadline

Thousands of third-level applicants who received an offer of a college course from the Central Applications Office (CAO) have until this evening to accept it.

CAO communications officer Eileen Keleghan said applicants who wished to accept an offer must do so by the deadline.

“If you received a round one offer, and if you choose to accept this offer, you must do so by this Friday at 5.15pm. If you don’t accept by this date, your offer will lapse,” she said.

Ms Keleghan said applicants should consider their current offer as potentially the only offer they may receive.

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“It is important to note that if you have received a lower preference offer, you can accept this offer and it will not prevent you from receiving an offer of a course higher up on your courses list in a later offer round if a place becomes available and you are deemed eligible,” she said.

Applicants who received an offer on both their Level 8 and level 7/6 lists can accept only one offer.

By yesterday afternoon, more than 37,000 of the 51,513 offers issued to applicants had been accepted.

Second round

The second round of CAO offers will take place on Wednesday, August 28th and applicants will be able to view the offer on the CAO website from 10am.

Second round offers must be accepted by Friday, August 30th at 5.15pm. After that, offers are then issued on a weekly basis up to late-September to fill the remaining places.

Applicants who are unhappy with the course they have been offered, or those who have not received any offers, can check the “Available Places” facility on the CAO website where almost 200 courses are advertised.

This option is where courses that remain unfilled are offered once all other offers have been made. Applicants who wish to consider this option can select it in the “My Application” section of the CAO website.

For applicants who received an offer of a course other than their first preference, read here.

For an in-depth look at vacant places and other options for students who did not get the choice they had hoped for, read here.