Last week thousands of students across the nation received their Leaving Certificate results. Just yesterday, Round One CAO offers were released. For every student who got the course they wanted, there was another checking their account and feeling disappointed.
So, what happens next? Eileen Keleghan, Head of Communications at the CAO, spoke to the Galway Advertiser about what applicants need to do in the coming days, what options are open to those who didn't get an offer, and what sixth years starting the process this September should already be thinking about.
If you got no offer at all
Eileen's first piece of advice for anyone who came away from Round One empty-handed is to go back and read the email the CAO sent them.
"Applicants who didn't receive an offer will have received a statement of application email, and it's really important that they follow the instructions in that email," she said. "Sometimes really important information might be missing from an applicant's account, for example their Leaving Cert exam number might be missing."
That doesn't mean that all hope is lost. Applicants can update missing details in time to be considered for Round Two offers. But that window is tight.
"They need to act fast," Eileen adds. "They'd want to be acting on Thursday [today] or Friday to update information in order to be in the running for Round Two."
If there's no error and the offer you desired simply hasn't come, Eileen was keen to stress that Round One isn't the only opportunity. Round Two offers issue on September 7, and there is also the CAO's Available Places facility.
From 12pm today, Thursday, August 27, the CAO's Available Places facility opens. This lists roughly 150 courses with places still unfilled after Round One. Applicants can add one of these courses to their application, even if the points published for it look out of reach, provided they meet the entry requirements. It's also open to people who didn't apply through the CAO earlier in the year but now want a place for September.
"They have to have met the entry requirements for the course, but they can ignore the points that might be published for that course, and they can apply for it. But they do have to have the entry requirements," Eileen explained.
"Now they're not guaranteed a place, obviously, but they should certainly have a look at that list of courses and see if there's anything there that they're interested in," said Eileen, pointing students to cao.ie/ap for more details on how the facility works.
You got an offer but not the one you wanted
Students who receive a lower-preference offer, for example their third choice rather than their first can be tempted to hold off accepting out of fear it will cost them a shot at something better later.
But that fear is misplaced, she said.
"It's important we always reiterate the message that you can accept your lower preference offer, and it's not going to prevent you from being considered for a higher preference in a later round, if a place becomes available and they're deemed eligible."
Her advice, unless a student is genuinely certain they don't want the course, is to accept it. It can always be cancelled later, but it may turn out to be the only offer on the table.
For those who did get their first-preference course, or any offer they're happy with, the message is pretty straightforward.
Accept before the reply date. Missing it means the place goes to the next person on the waiting list. Students who receive both a Level 8 and a Level 7/6 offer in the same round should also note they can only accept one of the two.
What to do if you're still disappointed
For students who remain disappointed after exploring that option, Eileen's advice turns toward the bigger picture.
"Contact your guidance counsellor if you can, and consider all of the further education options that are out there," she said, noting that further education is often "an excellent pathway into higher education" and that students can reapply in 2027 using either their current Leaving Cert results or results from further education. Repeating the Leaving Cert or exploring apprenticeships are also live options.
"The main thing is not to lose faith," she said. "There are always options."
One recurring query at this stage of the year concerns deferrals. Students who want to defer an accepted offer should not accept it first, instead they need to contact the college directly, with approval granted case by case.
A head start for this year's sixth years
While the class of 2026 navigate the weeks ahead, Eileen has a clear message for the next wave of students going into sixth year and getting ready to tackle the CAO process. Get organised early.
The 2027 CAO Handbook will be available to download from September 1, although applications don't open until November 5. Eileen encouraged students to get their CAO application number sorted well before that, ideally before Christmas, before they've even settled on any courses.
"I would always say get that step out of the way good and early. It helps make the process less scary. If you have made the application, you know you've got the ball rolling, and you become familiar then with logging into your account and maybe adding courses and removing them. It just focuses the applicant a little bit more."
Not only that, applying before January 20 secures a discounted fee, while February 1 at 5pm is the key cut-off for standard applications, restricted courses, and eligibility for the HEAR and DARE access schemes.
Her most pointed advice, however, was on order of preference.
"We will have applicants contact us every year who will be in a panic because they got their first preference course and they didn't think they were going to get it," she said. Because a first-preference offer removes eligibility for any lower-ranked choice, Eileen's advice is blunt.
"You don't put something down in first place on your list unless you really want to do it."
Students wanting to get familiar with the process before it opens can try the CAO's demo application form at cao.ie/demo This is a replica of the real thing, minus the stakes.
