Now that the examinations have drawn to a close, for those of you applying to higher and further education, you should now redirect your focus to your options once you receive your results in August, particularly your CAO course choices.
Parents and guardians should also take this opportunity to sit down with their son/daughter and help them to review all options.
Is your CAO application complete and correct?
In May, the CAO emailed a Statement of Application email to all applicants, with a reminder issued to those who had yet to click on ‘confirm’ which was sent at the end of May. A copy of these emails can be found in the Correspondence section of your CAO account.
The confirm button is located at the bottom of your application but make sure that you don’t skip straight to confirming without checking your account information first.
Later this month, CAO will issue a final reminder to those who haven’t taken action to confirm their account details. This should be seen as your last chance to check the following:
• Are your examination details correct (don’t assume that your Leaving Certificate number and year are correct, check the number supplied to you by the State Examination Commission with the number appearing on your CAO application )
• Are all examinations mentioned? (If you have multiple sittings of the Leaving Certificate, make sure they are all recorded. If you are a QQI or other applicant, make sure that the relevant categories have been selected and your examination information has been supplied. )
• Are your exemptions recorded (if you have any )?
• Are all your courses listed in the correct order of preference?
If you notice an error now, you have time to rectify your information before it’s too late. Make any amendments that you need to make to your courses or personal/qualifications data before July 1 at 5pm to ensure that you do not miss out on an offer at Round One.
Once you are happy, click on confirm and await the outcome of the offer allocation process later in the summer.
What if I want to change my course choices?
The Central Applications Office (CAO ) will see a surge in activity in the coming week as the July 1, 5pm change-of-mind deadline approaches.
Most applicants now use the initial CAO application in January as a holding exercise, but now that the Leaving Cert is done and dusted it's time to submit a definitive final list of options. It is therefore time to review your course choices – and get them right.
Why is now a good time to reassess my CAO options?
Because you have only a week or so until your course choice becomes unchangeable.
When you made your initial CAO application, you were probably focused on preparations for your mocks, or post-Leaving Cert (PLC ) programme in the case of students who completed the Leaving Cert in previous years. Your mind is now free of those pressures, and you have just one week to finalise your list of course choices.
Given the ease in our always online world of changing your CAO course choices regularly, many applicants use the initial application in January as a holding exercise, to secure access to a college place in the following September. Now you must decide which course or courses will build on your interests and aptitudes and enhance your capacity to successfully enter the labour market at the end of your studies.
How should I go about making these final choices?
You need to be aware of all the courses on offer. The online CAO handbook for 2026 was finalised in the summer of 2025. It contains a list of courses correct at the time of its printing. Since then, colleges will have withdrawn, amended, or added some courses. The CAO website has an up-to-date list of these amendments. To examine the current list of courses on offer through the CAO, including programme details, check their website.
A drop-down menu classifies every course under the following headings: administration and business; agriculture and horticulture; architecture; art and design; arts and social science; built environment; dentistry; education; engineering and technology; human medicine; law; nursing; other healthcare; pharmacy; physiotherapy; science; applied science; and veterinary medicine. Explore your options within these classifications.
No matter what CAO points you secure following the written Leaving Cert exams which you have just completed, or through your PLC award, there are courses on offer from colleges at higher certificate and both ordinary and honour’s degree levels, to suit your circumstances.
I know where to find course information – what next?
Most students have been through this process with their school guidance counsellor over the past number of years but if not here is a quick reminder of how to proceed.
1. Take the interest assessment test on qualifax.ie and careersportal.ie and see if they highlight any areas of particular interest to you.
2. Reread the results of other interest inventory or differential aptitude tests you undertook in the past two or three years. They may point in the correct direction.
3. Look at your exam results over the past few years, including the results of your Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement. Are you performing above your average in one or more subjects? These may be the ones to pursue on an undergraduate course.
4. Reflect on any work experience in transition year or the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme to see whether it enthused or discouraged your interest in an occupation or career path.
5. Reflect on the subjects you have studied for the past two years. Which ones did you enjoy studying most? The answers to all these questions may help you narrow your course choices down to a relatively small number of options.
Where can I find career-specific information?
One of the most helpful resources for exploring career options is careersportal.ie This site also has an “interest inventory” that will help match your courses to areas you are interested in.
The interest inventory results may well open your mind to possibilities you hadn’t considered. Many of us have preconceived notions, which are often inaccurate, of what is involved with specific occupations.
If you are interested in listening to people talk about what a particular job really entails, the site has more than 100 employees of large Irish employers talking about the realities of their day-to-day work. Having access to a site where employers are promoting opportunities in their companies or industry is of benefit to those interested in the labour market, from school-leavers looking down the line or adult CAO applicants considering a career change.
What if I am happy with the choices I made in January?
If you’re comfortable with your initial choice of courses and their order, all you need to do is check your list against the latest published list of courses on offer from the CAO.
Ensure all your courses are still on offer and there are no new ones that you might like to consider. Make sure you still meet all the subject, levels and entry requirements. If you are uncertain about these, go to the subject-choice module on the Qualifax website, where the entry requirements for all courses are outlined.
If, for example, you dropped from higher to ordinary level maths in the Leaving Cert you have just completed, you may have forgotten that a grade H4 at higher level is a minimum requirement for some choices. If some courses are no longer open to you, remove them from your CAO course list.
DARE and HEAR Eligibility Outcomes
If you have applied for either the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE ) or the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR ), the outcome of the assessment process will be issued by email after 2pm on Tuesday, June 23. The emails will be sent by CAO - you can view a copy of the email in the Correspondence section of your CAO application.
You can also log in to your CAO application to view your DARE HEAR application outcomes from 2pm on June 23.
If you have been deemed eligible for either scheme (or both ), you will compete for reduced-points places when the Round One offers issue on August 26 at 2pm. What this means is that you will compete for a quota of places that have been set aside for eligible HEAR and DARE applicants.
It is important to remember that eligibility for either scheme does not automatically guarantee that you will receive a reduced points offer. Higher Education Institutions have agreed a set number of places that can be awarded on reduced points for HEAR and DARE applicants, and those places will be filled by the HEAR and DARE eligible applicants based on merit and, in some instances, priority group criteria as agreed by the HEIs. You must also still meet the specific course requirements as set out on the HEI websites and prospectuses.
If you receive an ineligible DARE HEAR outcome, the reasons for your ineligibility can be viewed by logging in to your CAO account. If after reviewing the reasons you wish to appeal this decision, you can make an online review and appeal application by 5pm on July 2 at cao.ie More detailed instructions on the appeals process will be provided in the outcome email to assist you further. If you are making an appeal, please note that there is a short window to submit your postal documents; these documents must be to CAO by July 2 at 5pm.
If you require further assistance at this time, the Access Offices in the Higher Education Institutions will be available to provide further assistance with any queries you may have. Their details can be found at www.accesscollege.ie
If you’re happy with your choices after reviewing them, there’s no need to take further action or contact the CAO.
